World

The United Nations Security Council has convened a meeting tomorrow in the wake of the US President Donald Trump announcing his decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

At least eight of the 15 members of the Security Council, including Britain and France,  the two permanent members which closely align themselves on most of the global issues joined by other non-permanent members -- Bolivia, Egypt, Italy, Senegal, Sweden, Britain and Uruguay asked for a special meeting of the top decision-making wing of the New York-headquartered world body.

The UN Secretary General António Guterres is expected to address the Security Council.

US President Donald Trump has recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced plans to relocate the US embassy, currently based in Tel Aviv, to the city. In his live televised address from the White House last night, Mr Trump said, it was a long overdue step. He also directed the State Department to immediately begin the process of construction of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

''I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. While previous Presidents have made this a major campaign promise.  They failed to deliver. Today I am delivering. I have judged this course of action to be in the best interests of United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.''

The move reversed decades of US and international policy on the holy city, which many Arab leaders warned could trigger an upheaval in the already volatile West Asia region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the US  decision. He termed it as historic and a courageous and just decision. Leading the global voice of dissent against the US President's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the holy city is the final-status issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, the decision tantamounts to the United States abdicating its role as a peace mediator after a decade of sponsoring the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Iran and Qatar have also denounced the US move.  Pope Francis expressed deep concern and appealed for all to respect the city's status quo, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.

The European Union called for the resumption of a meaningful peace process while both China and Russia have also expressed their concern and said the move could lead to an escalation of tensions in the region.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said, the UK government disagree with the US decision and said there is no plan to move its embassy from Tel Aviv.

Furious protests are being raged across from Turkey to Gaza to Jordan against the decision of the US government. The Arab World had already warned suggesting that shift in policy regarding Jerusalem would inflame regional tensions and make the process of brokering a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians more difficult. Israel has always regarded Jerusalem as its capital city, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The issue goes to the heart of Israel's conflict with the Palestinians, who are backed by the Arab and wider Islamic world. The city is home to key religious sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity, especially in East Jerusalem.

The US House of Representatives has passed a resolution condemning "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingyas and urging immediate restoration of humanitarian access to the Rakhine state. The unrest there has forced over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

The US House of Representatives called on Myanmar's leadership to end attacks on minorities in the northern Rakhine state. In a statement, House Democratic Whip Steny H Hoyer said, Burmese leaders' commitment for restoring democracy will be judged by their respect for the individual rights and freedom of all people irrespective of their faith or ethnicity.

Introduced by Congressmen Joe Crowley and Eliot Engel, the resolution condemns the "horrific actions" of the military and security forces and calls for an immediate cessation of violence. It also urges Aung San Suu Kyi to exercise moral leadership. In his remarks on the House floor yesterday, Engel said that US rejects the Army's claims that what's taking place in Burma is a so-called counter terrorism measure.

UAE Armed Forces along with the UK, US and French armies are participating in joint exercises in Abu Dhabi.

The drill code-named as 'Flag4' started yesterday. The two-week exercise is part of the effort to consolidate multilateral relations, and to increase co-ordination between the UAE Armed Forces and participating nations.

State news agency WAM reported that the joint exercise aims to increase combat efficiency, gain more field expertise, and work to unify military concepts among participating parties.

Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been killed amid fighting between his supporters and their former allies, the Houthi rebel movement.

Officials from Mr Saleh’s General People’s Congress party said he died in an attack south of the capital, Sanaa.

The Houthis’ leader hailed the news as a ''great and significant occasion''.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi said it had foiled a ''conspiracy'' by a Saudi-led coalition backing the government, to whom Mr Saleh had made peace overtures.

The extradition trial of Vijay Mallya, wanted in India on charges of nine thousand crore rupees fraud and money laundering begun at a court in London, UK yesterday. The prosecution asserted that the embattled liquor baron had a 'case of fraud' to answer.

The trial started with the Crown Prosecution Service, arguing on behalf of the Indian government, presenting its opening arguments in the case which focused on loans totalling around two thousand crore rupees sought by the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines from a consortium of Indian banks.

It concluded the opening day’s proceedings by asserting that they had 'shown by virtue of evidence a prima facie case' against Mallya and the hearing should now move to the next phase of whether there were any 'bars to extradition'.

US President Donald Trump has scored a major political victory as the Senate passed his administration’s USD 1.5 trillion tax plan, a historic step in tax reform on Saturday.

The bill lowers tax rates for individuals and families till 2025 and permanently cuts corporate tax rates from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.

The House of Representative has already passed the bill. The two versions of the bill would now have to be reconciled before it can be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law.

In Nigeria, suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers have killed at least 13 people and injured 53 in an attack on a market in the northeast town of Biu in Borno state.

In addition to 13 people, two bombers were killed. Officials said, the blasts struck while aid workers were distributing food to people affected by the eight-year conflict with Boko Haram. Yesterday’s attack bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, which uses suicide bombers, often women and girls, to attack crowded public spaces.

The former President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh has suggested that he is open to talks with the Saudi-led coalition which his forces have been fighting for years.

He said that he would be ready to turn the page if the coalition lifted a blockade on northern Yemen and halted its attacks.

The offer came as clashes worsened between Mr Saleh’s forces and their former allies, the Houthis.

Israel attacked on Syria's military garrison near Damascus from missiles, while Syrian air security system killed two Israeli missiles by retaliating.

According to the Syrian government television, Israel has inflicted surface-to-surface missiles on the military hideout. There was a lot of damage from this.

However, the spokesman of the Israeli army refused to comment on this.