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Trump continues UK tour, meets Queen amid public protests

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US President Donald Trump and first lady Melanie Trump are greeted by Queen Elizabeth II, during an arrival ceremony with the Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, Friday, July 13, 2018. (AP)
Updated 13 July 2018
Arab News
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Trump continues UK tour, meets Queen amid public protests

  • In the interview in The Sun tabloid published Friday, Trump said May's plans to keep close economic ties with the EU after Brexit would "kill" its hopes of a US trade deal.
  • He also warned about migration into European cities including London, criticising Mayor Sadiq Khan over recent terror attacks and knife crime.
Updated 13 July 2018
Arab News

LONDON: US President Donald Trump met Britain's Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle on Friday.
While Trump's trip was not the full state visit he was originally promised, he was heralded by military bands on his arrival at Windsor, before he and First Lady Melania had tea with the 92-year-old queen.
As Elizabeth waited for Trump's arrival, she glanced at her watch. At one point, Trump halted abruptly and the British queen had to walk around the US president while they were inspecting the guard.
He is due to fly to Scotland later on Friday for a private trip, before heading to Helsinki for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier on in the day, US President Donald Trump arrived at British Prime Minister Theresa May's Chequers country residence for talks followed by a news conference.
At the 16th century country house, May and Trump had lunch and then spoke to reporters on the second day of Trump’s visit to the UK.

Tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated in London on Friday against US President Donald Trump, whose four-day visit to Britain has been marred by his extraordinary attack on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit strategy.

"#DumpTrump", "This is the carnival of resistance" and "My mum doesn't like you! And she likes everyone" read some of the signs held up by protesters as they marched down Oxford Street towards Trafalgar Square.

"No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!", the protesters chanted.




Demonstrators, from a number of different groups, take part in an anti-Trump protest in central London, Britain, July 13, 2018. (Reuters)

Some protesters banged on pots and pans, others blew on trumpets and many held up orange "Stop Trump" balloons.

Grant White, 32, carried a sign depicting Trump as the Twitter bird symbol wearing a swastika around his arm.

"I am anti-Brexit, anti-Trump. There is a wave of fascism which we have to get rid of," he said.

Dawn, 49, came with her 11-year-old daughter Sadie.

"Trump is the man with the biggest ego in charge of the biggest power in the world. He doesn't have a grasp of what is needed in the world," the mother said.

Her daughter said: "He doesn't accept people who have a different religion in his country, where there is big diversity."

Campaigners elsewhere in London flew a "Baby Trump" balloon, an act of protest approved by London mayor Sadiq Khan which has proved particularly contentious for Trump and his supporters.

The number of protestors could have been swelled by Trump's interview to The Sun newspaper which emerged after British Prime Minister Theresa May hosted him at an opulent black-tie dinner on Thursday in the leafy splendor of Blenheim Palace.




A giant balloon inflated by activists depicting US President Donald Trump as an orange baby is seen during a demonstration against Trump's visit to the UK in Parliament Square in London on July 13, 2018. (AFP)


In the interview in The Sun tabloid published Friday, Trump said May's plans to keep close economic ties with the EU after Brexit would "kill" its hopes of a US trade deal.
He also warned about migration into European cities including London, criticising Mayor Sadiq Khan over recent terror attacks and knife crime.
He also suggested Boris Johnson, who quit as foreign secretary this week in protest at May's Brexit proposal, would make a good prime minister.
"@realDonaldTrump determined to insult our PM," said Sarah Woollaston, a Conservative MP and chairwoman of parliament's health committee.
However, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokeswoman said Friday that she has a good relationship with Donald Trump and is confident a trade deal can be agreed with the United States after the president criticised her Brexit plans in an interview.
"Trade is one of the top items for discussions between the president and the PM today and ... we are confident that we can do a good trade deal with the US," the spokeswoman told reporters.
"The prime minister has a good relationship with the president.”
Sitting alongside May at the beginning of talks at the prime minister's country retreat of Chequers, Trump said Friday his relationship with Prime Minister Theresa May was "very, very strong" after his earlier attack on her Brexit strategy.
He said: "The relationship is very, very strong. We really have a very good relationship."
Trump spoke at a news conference with May following meetings at her official country estate outside of London. During the conference, he said that the interview with The Sun was fake news and that he did not criticize May. 




US President Donald Trump (L) and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (R) shake hands during a press conference following their meeting at Chequers.(AFP)

Theresa May is an "incredible woman" who is "doing a fantastic job" as the British prime minister.
Trump commented as he sought to soften the blow after he criticized aspects of her leadership in the interview published by The Sun. 
The US president also said that he discussed a range of priorities including nuclear non-proliferation with May during their meetings. He said that it was the “biggest problem in the world.”

"We discussed a range of priorities including stopping nuclear proliferation. I thanked (May) for her partnership in our pursuit of a nuclear-free North Korea. We both agreed that Iran must never possess a nuclear weapon."

He added that he encouraged May to “sustain pressure on Iran.” 

Contrary to the comments he made in his interview with The Sun regarding Brexit, President Trump also said that however the UK leaves the EU “is ok with me.”

Trump added that “Brexit is a very tough situation...between the borders and the entries into the countries and all of the things."

"The only thing I ask is that she (May) work it out so that we can have very even trade because we do not have a fair deal with the EU right now on trade. They treat the US horribly and that's going to change."
"If it doesn't change, they're going to have to pay a very big price."




Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. President Donald Trump walk away after holding a joint news conference at Chequers. (Reuters)

Asked to rate US-UK relations, Trump gave them the "highest level of special."

President Trump also said that he will bring up the issue of Syria at his meeting with Putin in Helsinki on Monday.

(With agencies)

Topics: Donald Trump British Premier Theresa May Protests

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Air India crash death toll rises to 279: police source

Updated 6 sec ago
AFP
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Air India crash death toll rises to 279: police source

  • Revised toll from a senior officer in the city, who requested anonymity, raises an earlier figure of 265
  • Official casualty number will not be finalized until the slow process of DNA identification is completed
Updated 6 sec ago
AFP
AHMEDABAD, India: An Indian police source said Saturday that 279 bodies had been recovered from the site where a passenger jet crashed into a residential district of the city of Ahmedabad.
The revised toll from a senior officer in the city, who requested anonymity in order to speak to the media, raises an earlier figure of 265.
The increase makes it one of the deadliest plane disasters of the 21st century.
Air India said there were 242 people on board the flight bound for London’s Gatwick airport, only one of whom survived.
At least 38 people were killed on the ground when the plane smashed into residential buildings near the airport.
The official casualty number will not be finalized until the slow process of DNA identification is completed.
Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call moments before it crashed around lunchtime on Thursday after lifting barely 100 meters (330 feet) from the ground.
Investigators recovered a black box recorder on Friday from the crash site, with forensic teams still looking for the second.
US planemaker Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood “ready to support them” over the incident, which a source close to the case said was the first crash for a 787 Dreamliner.

Thailand and Cambodia meet over border dispute

Updated 22 min 22 sec ago
AFP
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Thailand and Cambodia meet over border dispute

  • Troops from the two countries exchanged fire on May 28 in an area known as the Emerald Triangle
  • The Thai and Cambodian armies both said they had acted in self-defense, but agreed to reposition their soldiers
Updated 22 min 22 sec ago
AFP

BANGKOK: Officials from Thailand and Cambodia met Saturday in Phnom Penh, an AFP journalist saw, as the Southeast Asian neighbors sought to resolve a long-running border dispute that last month devolved into clashes.

Troops from the two countries exchanged fire on May 28 in an area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet, with one Cambodian soldier killed.

The Thai and Cambodian armies both said they had acted in self-defense, but agreed to reposition their soldiers to avoid confrontations.

Thailand has tightened border controls with Cambodia in recent days, while Cambodia ordered troops on Friday to stay on “full alert.”

Officials from the two countries had agreed to resolve the spat at Saturday’s meet in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

Foreign ministry adviser Prasart Prasartvinitchai was leading the Thai delegation, while Chea Lam, minister of state in charge of the Secretariat of Border Affairs, headed the Cambodian contingent.

Neither side commented ahead of the talks.

The row dates to the drawing of the 800-kilometer frontier, largely done during the French occupation of Indochina.

The region has seen sporadic violence since 2008, resulting in at least 28 deaths.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet announced earlier this month that Cambodia would file a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over four disputed border areas, including the site of the latest clash.

The ICJ ruled in 2013 that a disputed area next to Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia, but Thailand says it does not accept the ICJ’s jurisdiction.

Topics: Thailand Cambodia

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Malian army, Russian allies suffer heavy losses in separatist ambush

Updated 14 June 2025
AFP
AP
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Malian army, Russian allies suffer heavy losses in separatist ambush

  • Separatist fighters claim destroying 21 military vehicles including armored cars and armed pick-up trucks in the ambush
  • Mali army’s general staff acknowledged in a statement that a logistics convoy had been ambushed at dawn on Friday
Updated 14 June 2025
AFP AP

DAKAR, Senegal: A separatist coalition battled Malian troops backed by Moscow-run mercenaries in the north of the country Friday, both sides and local sources said.
The deadly clashes, involving the separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and the Moscow-run Africa Corps, follows a series of attacks on the military in recent weeks.
In a statement Friday, the FLA said it had killed several dozen members of the Africa Corps.
“Around 15 bodies were left abandoned on the site of the fighting,” the statement added.

“We recovered 12 trucks loaded with cereals, tankers full of diesel, one military pickup, and one armored vehicles from the 30 vehicles in the convoy,” Mohamed Maouloud Ramadan, spokesman for the Azawad separatists, said in a statement that acknowledged the death of three of their members.
Viral videos shared by the separatists showed military trucks on fire in a large swathe of desert land amid gunfire as gun-wielding hooded young men posed in front of the trucks. The videos also showed bodies with uniforms that resemble those of the Malian army. The Associated Press could not independently verify the videos.
The FLA also said it had destroyed 21 military vehicles including armored cars and armed pick-up trucks.
Earlier, the army’s general staff acknowledged in a statement that a logistics convoy had been ambushed at dawn on Friday.
The army statement said the battle took place in the Kidal region where the army convoy had been conducting an “offensive operation against an armed terrorist group.”
It said “10 enemy combatants” had been killed.
Mali’s army retook several districts from separatists in 2023, among them Kidal, a pro-independence northern bastion.
Africa Corps is the successor to the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, which diplomatic and security sources confirmed to AFP over the weekend has now left Mali.
The group, overseen by Moscow’s defense ministry, is also actively supporting several other African governments.
“The fighters this Friday were fierce,” a regional elected official told AFP.
“There were losses on both sides. But we’ll have to wait for definitive figures.”
Since 2012, Mali has been mired in violence carried out by jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group, as well as other organizations.
The Azawad separatist movement has been fighting for years to create the state of Azawad in northern Mali. They once drove security forces out of the region before a 2015 peace deal that has since collapsed was signed to pave the way for some ex-rebels to be integrated into the Malian military.

The latest clashes show how difficult it is for security forces in Mali to operate in difficult terrains like Kidal, according to Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South think tank.
“It’s difficult to gather actionable intelligence to protect their convoys, and this gives a significant advantage to armed and jihadist groups”, said Lyammouri.
The latest attack occurred days after Russia’s mercenary group Wagner – which for more than three years helped Malian security forces in the fight against armed groups – announced it was leaving the country. The Africa Corps, under the direct command of the Russian defense ministry, said it will remain in Mali.
There are around 2,000 mercenaries in Mali, according to US officials. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps.

Topics: mali Azawad Liberation Front Africa Corps

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US adversaries fuel disinformation about LA protests, exploiting deep divisions in American society, say researchers

Updated 14 June 2025
AP
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US adversaries fuel disinformation about LA protests, exploiting deep divisions in American society, say researchers

  • Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state-linked sources behind 10,000 posts and articles on LA protests, says watchdog Newsguard
  • Many peddled unfounded claims that California was ready to secede from the US and declare independence
Updated 14 June 2025
AP

WASHINGTON: Russia, China and Iran are amplifying disinformation about protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles, researchers said Friday, adding to a surge of domestically generated falsehoods and conspiracy theories.
The findings from researchers at the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard illustrate how foreign adversaries of the United States are exploiting deep divisions in American society as a tactic of information warfare.
NewsGuard said Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state-affiliated sources have published around 10,000 posts and articles about the demonstrations that recently erupted in Los Angeles, advancing false claims framing the city as “ground zero in an American apocalypse.”
Seizing on the political rift between President Donald Trump and Governor Gavin Newsom, pro-China accounts on X and Chinese platforms such as Douyin and Weibo have peddled unfounded claims that California was ready to secede from the United States and declare independence.
Meanwhile, Tehran-based newspapers have peddled the false claim that popular Iranian singer-songwriter Andranik Madadian had been detained by the National Guard in Los Angeles, in an apparent effort to portray the United States as an authoritarian state.
NewsGuard quoted Madadian, better known by his stage name Andy, as denying the claim, stating: “I am fine. Please don’t believe these rumors.”
Russian media and pro-Russian influencers, meanwhile, has embraced right-wing conspiracy theories, including the unfounded claim that the Mexican government was stoking the demonstrations against Trump’s immigration policies.
“The demonstrations are unfolding at the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities such as eroded trust in institutions, AI chatbots amplifying false claims about the unrest, political polarization, and a rollback of safety and moderation efforts by major platforms,” McKenzie Sadeghi, a researcher with NewsGuard, told AFP.
“As a result, foreign actors have a wide-open playing field to flood the zone with falsehoods at a faster rate and fewer barriers compared to previous moments of unrest,” she added.
The apparent alignment across the three countries was noteworthy, Sadeghi said.
“While Russia, China, and Iran regularly push their own unique forms of disinformation, it’s less common to see them move in such a coordinated fashion like this,” she said.
“This time, state media outlets have escalated their messaging to advance their geopolitical interests and deflect attention from their own domestic crises.”
The disinformation comes on top of false narratives promoted by US-based influencers.
In recent days, conservative social media users have circulated two photographs of brick piles they claimed were strategically placed for the California protesters to hurl at police and inflame violence.
The photos were cited as proof that the protests were fueled by nonprofit organizations supported by George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist who has long been a bogeyman for the far right.
But AFP’s fact-checkers found that one photo was lifted from an online marketplace, where a Malaysian hardware dealer uploaded it years ago, while the other was snapped near a construction site in New Jersey.
“Every time there’s a popular protest, the old clickbaity ‘pallets of bricks’ hoax shows up right on cue,” the Social Media Lab, a research center at the Toronto Metropolitan University, wrote on the platform Bluesky.
“The fact that these types of fake images are used isn’t a coincidence. It’s part of a pernicious (and) persistent narrative that protests against government policies are somehow inauthentic.”
 

Topics: Trump Returns LA protests NewsGuard

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India in mourning after over 240 killed in deadliest aviation disaster in decades

Updated 13 June 2025
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India in mourning after over 240 killed in deadliest aviation disaster in decades

  • Sole flight survivor Ramesh Viswashkumar a British national of Indian origin, is being treated at a hospital, airline confirms
  • London-bound Dreamliner with 242 people on board also killed dozens more when it crashed into a medical college hostel
Updated 13 June 2025
Sanjay Kumar

NEW DELHI, India: Indian authorities were combing the site of one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters on Friday, after an Air India plane crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad less than a minute after takeoff, killing all but one of its passengers. 

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which had 242 people on board, also killed dozens more people when it crashed into a medical college hostel located just outside Ahmedabad airport and burst into flames on Thursday afternoon. 

The sole survivor, a British national of Indian origin, is being treated in a hospital, the airline confirmed. 

“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words. Condolences to all the bereaved families,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media after visiting the crash site in the capital of his home state of Gujarat. 

The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese and one Canadian. 

The surviving passenger, who was in seat 11A next to an emergency exit in front of the plane’s wing, reportedly managed to jump out. He told Indian media that he had heard a loud noise shortly after flight AI171 took off. 

Various footage showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then sinking and disappearing from the screen, before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses. 

Those killed on board include a family who was visiting India for Eid, a newlywed who is moving to the UK and Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of Gujarat. 

Health authorities are conducting DNA tests to identify bodies, which were mostly charred beyond recognition, as relatives take part and wait for officials to release the remains. 

Suresh Khatika, who was waiting at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital where the DNA testing was taking place, said his niece Payal Khatika was among the passengers. 

“Payal was going for further studies and she has taken a loan for it. She was really preparing herself for the day when she would go to the UK for studies,” Khatika told Arab News. 

“It is really tragic that her dream crashed like this. We are in deep pain, and don’t know how to react.” 

Many Indians have also taken to social media to mourn the victims, as their stories circulated widely. Among them is Dr. Pratik Joshi, who was reportedly bringing his wife, Dr. Komi Vyas, and three young children to move to the UK. A picture of the family, believed to be taken on the plane and shared with relatives before takeoff, has garnered millions of views online as messages of condolence poured in. 

In addition to the passengers and crew, dozens more people perished as they were caught in the path of the plane crash. 

Thakur Ravi, a cook at B.J. Medical College, said his mother and two-year-old daughter, who had been on the side of the building where the plane had crashed, were missing. 

“Other helpers and cooks managed to escape but my mother and daughter have been missing since yesterday,” Ravi told Arab News. 

“We are frantically hoping against hope to have my family back. It was a horrible incident. It seemed as if the sky had fallen on us.” 

Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said a formal investigation headed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been launched. 

Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood “ready to support them” over the incident. The UK and US air accident investigation agencies also announced they were sending teams to support their Indian counterparts.

India, the world’s third-largest aviation market, has endured several fatal air crashes on its soil, including in 1996, when two planes collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing around 350 people. In 2010, an Air-India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in south-west India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew onboard. 

Topics: Indian plane crash Ahmedabad Plane Crash Indian Aviation ministry

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