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
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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.

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)


Spain probes deaths of thousands of Spaniards in Nazi camps

Updated 5 sec ago
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Spain probes deaths of thousands of Spaniards in Nazi camps

  • Thousands of Spaniards fled to France after Franco’s Fascist-backed nationalists overthrew a republic in the 1936-1939 civil war
  • They found themselves under Nazi occupation in France from 1940

MADRID: Spanish prosecutors on Monday said they were investigating whether General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II to send thousands of exiled Spaniards in France to death camps.
Thousands of Spaniards fled to France after Franco’s Fascist-backed nationalists overthrew a republic in the 1936-1939 civil war, only to find themselves under Nazi occupation in France from 1940.
The investigation will “clarify the relevant responsibilities and the existence of a possible joint strategy” between Franco’s dictatorship and Nazi Germany “in the detention and subsequent transfer of thousands of Spaniards exiled in France to different extermination camps,” the public prosecutor’s office said.
The Mauthausen camp in Austria was among the sites where the republican exiles “were subjected to forced labor, torture, disappearance and murder,” the prosecutor’s office added.
The human rights and democratic memory section of the office will lead the inquiry into the 4,435 recorded dead.
The prosecutors’ office said the probe coincided with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Mauthausen and was launched in accordance with a divisive 2022 democratic memory law.
The left-wing government passed the legislation in a bid to tackle the legacy of the civil war and honor victims of violence and persecution under Franco, who ruled with an iron fist until his death in 1975.
The right-wing opposition says the left is trying to reopen the wounds of the past with the law and has vowed to repeal it if they return to power.


Rwanda in ‘initial’ talks with US over migration deal

Updated 30 min 54 sec ago
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Rwanda in ‘initial’ talks with US over migration deal

  • Great Lakes nation — often viewed as an island of stability in a turbulent region — previously made a similar multi-million deal with Britain to receive deported illegal migrants
  • FM Olivier Nduhungirehe: ‘Those reports are true, we are engaged in discussions with the Government of the United States of America’

KIGALI: Rwanda and Washington are in the early stages of talks to receive immigrants from the United States, the Rwandan foreign minister told state media.
Washington has been pushing a mass deportation drive, with President Donald Trump’s administration negotiating highly controversial arrangements to send migrants to third countries.
The Great Lakes nation — often viewed as an island of stability in a turbulent region — previously made a similar multi-million deal with Britain to receive deported illegal migrants. However, it was scrapped immediately after a new government was elected last year.
Foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe confirmed earlier reports that Rwanda was among countries talking to Washington over a migrant deal, following a question on state TV on Sunday.
“Those reports are true, we are engaged in discussions with the Government of the United States of America,” he said.
Noting the similar agreement with the British, Nduhungirehe said such a deal “is not something new to us.”
However, while he confirmed that the two nations were engaged in “ongoing” talks, he said “they are not yet conclusive to determine the direction this will take.”
“I would say the discussions are in their initial stages, but we continue to talk about this problem of migrants,” he said, without giving further details.
When contacted by AFP about the talks he said: “You will be informed when the discussions will be finalized.”
Washington’s deal with El Salvador has created a furor, notably after a US official acknowledged that authorities mistakenly expelled one Salvadoran man but that the United States could not bring him back.
The Kigali-London deal was also controversial, with the UK’s Supreme Court ruling that sending migrants to Rwanda through the agreement would be illegal because it “would expose them to a real risk of ill-treatment.”
The tiny nation of roughly 13 million people has been criticized by rights groups over its human rights record and increasingly diminished freedom of speech.
Rwanda has also faced mounting pressure over its involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the east of which has been re-engulfed in conflict after a lightning strike by a Rwandan-backed military group.


Thousands of people gather near Buckingham Palace to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day

Updated 52 min 53 sec ago
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Thousands of people gather near Buckingham Palace to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day

  • Britain started its commemorations of V-E Day three days early, because Monday is a public holiday in the UK

LONDON: Thousands of people lined the roads around the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace on Monday as British and allied troops paraded past at the start of four days of pageantry to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
After Big Ben tolled at the stroke of noon, actor Timothy Spall recited the victory speech that Winston Churchill delivered to a roaring crowd in central London on May 8, 1945. Britain started its commemorations of V-E Day three days early, because Monday is a public holiday in the UK.
The Cenotaph, the nation’s war memorial, was covered with Union Jack flags. It was the first time that the memorial had been draped in the flags since it was unveiled by King George V in 1920, two years after the end of World War I.
About 1,300 members of the British armed forces are being joined by troops from the United Kingdom’s NATO allies and Ukraine — a nod to the present war in Europe. The procession started in Parliament Square and swept past Buckingham Palace, where King Charles III took the salute.
Maria Crook, 69, who wore a hat with red, white and blue ribbons, traveled from Devon to London to watch the procession.
“I think it’s extremely important to pay our respects and honor those who have died for us,” she said.


In Dhaka, Makkah Route facility eases Bangladeshi pilgrims’ Hajj journey

Updated 05 May 2025
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In Dhaka, Makkah Route facility eases Bangladeshi pilgrims’ Hajj journey

  • Around 87,000 Bangladeshis will be going for Hajj in 2025
  • Special pilgrimage flights from Dhaka began on April 29

Dhaka: Bangladeshi pilgrims have welcomed the Hajj immigration procedures under the Makkah Route initiative, which are easing the process for tens of thousands of pilgrims departing for Saudi Arabia from the nation’s main international airport.

Most of the pilgrims are departing from Dhaka under the flagship pre-travel program.

The Kingdom launched the initiative in 2019 to help pilgrims meet all the visa, customs and health requirements at the airport of origin and save them long hours of waiting before and upon arrival in Saudi Arabia.

This year, Hajj is expected to start on June 4, and special pilgrimage flights from the Bangladeshi capital began on April 29.

“The Makkah Route initiative … It’s very pleasant for the pilgrims of Bangladesh. It is, of course, time-saving and being done comfortably,” Hajj director Mohammad Lokman Hossain told Arab News over the weekend.

“They didn’t have to wait in a long queue and it’s very beneficial to the pilgrims.”

Bangladesh is among seven Muslim-majority countries — including Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, Turkiye and Cote d’Ivoire — where Saudi Arabia is operating its Makkah Route initiative.

One of the most populous Muslim-majority countries, Bangladesh was granted a quota of 127,000 pilgrims in 2025. But only about 87,000 will be going this year due to high inflation and rising cost of airfares to the Middle East.

The pilgrims appreciated the way the Saudi facility was organized at the airport as they prepared to board their flights to the Kingdom.

“We have completed the immigration formalities very easily. There was no delay, no waiting. It’s like we came and everything was done,” Mohammad Ruhul Kuddus, a businessman from Dhaka, told Arab News.

For Oaliur Reza, the immigration process took only a minute.

“I had no idea about these services. I just found out about it for the first time and I had a very good experience,” Reza said.

“Just within a minute, I passed the immigration, and I liked this service the most.”

Abdul Awal, a businessman from the city of Feni, recalled how different it had been the first time he performed Hajj, when the Makkah Route initiative was not yet introduced.

“I like the current system a lot. It made things easier. The difficulties of the pilgrims have been reduced now significantly compared to the years before (the Makkah Route initiative),” Awal said.

“There were plenty of computerized service counters here for the pilgrims. Praise be to God, it’s very good.”


Europe launches a drive to attract scientists and researchers after Trump freezes US funding

Updated 05 May 2025
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Europe launches a drive to attract scientists and researchers after Trump freezes US funding

  • The European Union is launching a drive to attract scientists and researchers with offers of grants and new policy plans
  • It comes after the Trump administration froze US government funding linked to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

PARIS:The European Union launched a drive on Monday to attract scientists and researchers to Europe with offers of grants and new policy plans, after the Trump administration froze US government funding linked to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“A few years ago, no one would have imagined that one of the biggest democracies in the world would cancel research programs under the pretext that the word diversity was in this program,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at the “Choose Europe for Science” event in Paris.
“No one would have thought that one of the biggest democracies in the world would delete with a stroke the ability of one researcher or another to obtain visas,” Macron said. “But here we are.”
Taking the same stage at the Sorbonne University, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU’s executive branch would set up a “super grant” program aimed at offering “a longer-term perspective to the very best” in the field.
She said that 500 million euros ($566 million) will be put forward in 2025-2027 “to make Europe a magnet for researchers.” It would be injected into the European Research Council, which already has a budget of more than 16 billion euros ($18 billion) for 2021-2027.
Von der Leyen said that the 27-nation EU intends “to enshrine freedom of scientific research into law” with a new legal act. As “the threats rise across the world, Europe will not compromise on its principles,” she said.
Macron said that the French government would also soon make new proposals to beef up investment in science and research.
Last month, hundreds of university researchers in the United States had National Science Foundation funding canceled to comply with US President Donald Trump’s order to end support to research on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as the study of misinformation.
More than 380 grant projects have been cut so far, including work to combat Internet censorship in China and Iran and a project consulting with Indigenous communities to understand environmental changes in Alaska’s Arctic region.
Some terminated grants that sought to broaden the diversity of people studying science, technology and engineering. Scientists, researchers and doctors have taken to the streets in protest.
While not mentioning the Trump administration by name, von der Leyen said that it was “a gigantic miscalculation” to undermine free and open research.
“We can all agree that science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity, no political party,” she said. “We believe that diversity is an asset of humanity and the lifeblood of science. It is one of the most valuable global assets and it must be protected.”
Von der Leyen’s drive to promote opportunities in Europe in the field of science and take advantage of US policy shifts dovetails with the way that she has played up the potential for trade deals with other countries since Trump took office in January and sparked a tariff war last month.
The former German defense minister, and trained doctor, vowed that the EU would also address some of the roadblocks that scientists and researchers face, notably excessive red tape and access to businesses.
Macron said that science and research must not “be based on the diktats of the few.”
Macron said that Europe “must become a refuge” for scientists and researchers, and he said to those who feel under threat elsewhere: “The message is simple. If you like freedom, come and help us to remain free, to do research here, to help us become better, to invest in our future.”