World's longest serving FM steps down in major Saudi reshuffle

Wednesday, 29 April 2015

The world's longest serving foreign minister has been relieved of his duties as the new Saudi King reshuffled his cabinet today.

Saud Al-Faisal, who's served as the Kingdom's foreign minister for 40 years, requested he be relieved of his duties "due to his health conditions" a request which was accepted by King Salman Bin Abdulaziz agreed.

Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel Bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir replaces Al-Faisal as foreign minister, the state-owned SPA news agency reported.

However, the veteran diplomat was appointed as a state minister, an adviser and a special envoy of the king, as well as a supervisor on foreign affairs.

Al-Faisal has been battling Parkinson's disease and chronic back pain, and he recently returned home after weeks of recovery from a back surgery in the United States, which the Saudi authorities described as "successful".

King Salman also accepted a request by his Crown Prince Muqrin Bin Abdulaziz to be relieved of his duties, naming Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Nayef as the new heir to the Saudi throne.

Prince Mohamed, 30, becomes the youngest member of the royal family to serve as deputy crown prince.

King Salman has also named new ministers for health and economy.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/18329-worlds-longest-serving-fm-steps-down-in-major-saudi-reshuffle.

UK leaders make last televised pre-election appeal to voters

April 30, 2015

LONDON (AP) — An audience of voters sent Britain's main political leaders a stark message in a bruising televised question session a week before election day: We don't trust you.

Prime Minister David Cameron of the Conservatives, Labor Party leader Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrat chief Nick Clegg fielded questions at Leeds Town Hall in northern England Thursday, in a bid to win over voters ahead of an election polls say is too close to call.

The leaders didn't trade blows with each other in the BBC's "Question Time" program, but were battered by hard-hitting questions from an audience selected to include supporters of all three parties, as well as undecided voters.

Questioners said Cameron couldn't be trusted to preserve Britain's health and welfare systems and accused him of lying about cutting immigration. Miliband was charged with being economically reckless and lying about the previous Labor government's spending.

Clegg was asked how he could ever be trusted again, after reneging on a 2010 election pledge to abolish university tuition charges. He went into government with the Conservatives and tripled the fees.

"Got it wrong, I said sorry," Clegg said, in a tone of contrition adopted by all three politicians. Neither Labor nor the Conservatives appears to have the support to win a majority in the House of Commons in the May 7 election, while the Lib Dems look set to lose half their seats. Some form of coalition government appears likely.

The leaders tried to inject some certainty to the most uncertain election in decades, outlining the "red lines" they would not cross in government. For Cameron, it was an in-out referendum on European Union membership, which he has promised to hold by 2017.

"I will not lead a government that does not deliver that (referendum) pledge," Cameron said. Miliband vowed that a center-left government led by him would cut spending to get the deficit down and "live within our means."

And he ruled out in firm terms a coalition or deal with the separatist Scottish National Party, which looks set to win most of the seats in Scotland. "I am not going to sacrifice the future of our country, the unity of our country," Miliband said.

As the campaign enters its final week, British newspapers began to dole out political endorsements. The Financial Times and the Economist both said a continuation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition that has governed since 2010 was in Britain's best interests.

Rupert Murdoch's tabloid Sun urged voters to back the Conservatives — unless they're in Scotland. There, it said, they should vote for the Scottish National Party. The differing endorsements raised a few eyebrows, since the London-based Sun dubbed nationalists "saboteurs" determined to wreck Britain.

But the Scottish edition — which has a separate editor — said the SNP would "fight harder for Scotland's interests" and praised leader Nicola Sturgeon as "a phenomenon." Its front page depicted her as Princess Leia from "Star Wars."

Murdoch's newspapers were long a powerful force in British politics, but their influence may be waning in the Internet age.

Austria turns down US extradition request for Ukrainian

May 01, 2015

VIENNA (AP) — An Austrian court on Thursday ruled against a U.S. extradition request for a Ukrainian oligarch suspected of paying millions of dollars in bribes to Indian officials, saying the U.S. move was at least partially politically motivated and not supported by sufficient evidence.

The ruling came after more than 12 hours of proceedings. The U.S. prosecution said it would appeal. Judge Christoph Bauer said U.S. officials did not supply all the documents requested by the court as evidence, while court spokeswoman Christina Salzborn said the case was "also politically motivated."

U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Peter Carr said in a phone interview Thursday from Washington that, "We are disappointed with the court's ruling and have filed an appeal." He declined further comment.

Firtash was indicted in Chicago by a U.S. grand jury two years ago for allegedly paying off the officials through U.S. banks in a failed attempt to secure titanium mining rights in India. Arrested a year ago in Vienna, Firtash posted bail of 125 million euros (nearly $140 million) shortly afterward, leaving him free but unable to leave Austria.

Court officials said Friday the bail would remain in effect and Firtash could leave Austria on condition that he was reachable through his lawyers. One of Ukraine's most influential businessmen, Firtash, 49 is well connected both in Moscow and with Ukrainian politicians opposed to the Kremlin. He earned millions of dollars in the natural gas trading sector under deposed pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.

His lawyers claimed that his arrest in Austria at a time of political turmoil in Ukraine was politically motivated — an argument also made Friday in court by Firtash, who described the accusations as "totally absurd."

AP video journalist Philipp Jenne in Vienna and AP writer Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed.