Romanians vote in tight presidential election rerun
BUCHAREST: Romanians were voting on Sunday in a tense presidential election re-run, a tight race between a fan of US President Donald Trump and a pro-EU mayor that could reshape the direction of the key Nato member bordering war-torn Ukraine. If nationalist George Simion wins the rerun — held after last year's vote was annulled over allegations of election interference — he would become the country's first far-right president. That would thrust Romania into a growing group of European Union countries with nationalist leaders critical of Brussels and keen to cut military aid to Ukraine.
Far-right leader Simion and his rival, Bucharest's Mayor Nicusor Dan, have both campaigned on a platform of change amid anger with politicians deemed corrupt who have ruled one of the EU's poorest countries since the end of Communism 35 years ago. Pledging to put "Romania first", Simion has vowed to "restore the dignity of the Romanian people. He has criticised what he calls the EU's "absurd policies" and wants to cut military aid to Ukraine. — AFP
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Observer
18 hours ago
- Observer
Ukraine expands evacuations in Sumy amid offensive fears
KYIV: Ukraine ordered the evacuation of 11 more villages in its Sumy region bordering Russia on Saturday amid fears Moscow was gearing up for a fresh ground assault. Russia claims to have captured several villages in the northeastern region in recent weeks, and has massed more than 50,000 soldiers on the other side of the border, according to Kyiv. The evacuations came just two days before a possible meeting between the two sides in Istanbul, as Washington called on both countries to end the three-year war. Russia has confirmed it will send a delegation to the Turkish city, but Kyiv has yet to accept the proposal, warning the talks would not yield results unless the Kremlin provided its peace terms in advance. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of doing "everything" it could to sabotage the potential meeting by withholding its peace terms. Authorities in Ukraine's Sumy region said on Saturday that they were evacuating 11 villages within a roughly 30-kilometre range from the Russian border. "The decision was made in view of the constant threat to civilian life as a result of shelling of border communities," the regional administration said on social media. A spokesman for Ukraine's border guard service, Andriy Demchenko, said on Thursday that Russia was poised to "attempt an attack" on Sumy. In total, 213 settlements in the region have been ordered to evacuate. Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had taken another Sumy region village, Vodolagy. Moscow's attack on Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the destruction of towns and villages across parts of the east and south of the country. The Kremlin's army now controls around a fifth of the country and claims to have annexed five Ukrainian regions as its own, including Crimea, which it seized in 2014. Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire guns toward Russian positions, in Donetsk region. — Reuters US President Donald Trump has spearheaded diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the fighting, but Kyiv and Moscow have both accused each other of not wanting peace. The Kremlin has proposed further negotiations in Istanbul on Monday, after a May 16 round of talks that yielded little beyond a large prisoner-of-war exchange. Kyiv has not yet said whether it will attend the Monday meeting, and said on Friday it did not expect any results from the talks unless Moscow provided its peace terms in advance. Russia says it will provide its peace memorandum in person on Monday. But Ukraine suspects it will contain unrealistic demands that Kyiv has already rejected, including that Ukraine cede territory still under its control and abandon its Nato ambitions. In a statement to the United Nations on Friday, Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia suggested the memorandum might call for Western countries to halt armed supplies to Kyiv and for Ukraine to abandon its military mobilisation. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has fostered warm relations with both Zelensky and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, has become a key mediator amid efforts to end the conflict. In a call with Zelensky late on Friday, the Turkish leader urged both sides to send "strong delegations" to ensure momentum towards peace, according to Turkish state news agency Anadolu. Turkiye has offered to host a summit between Putin, Zelensky and Trump, but the Kremlin has turned down the offer. Putin has consistently rebuffed calls for a 30-day, unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian shelling and air strikes on southern Ukraine overnight killed a man and a nine-year-old girl in separate attacks, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday. In the Zaporizhzhia region, "Russians hit a residential area with guided aerial bombs", killing the girl and wounding a 16-year-old boy, Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration, said on the Telegram platform. One house was destroyed and several others damaged by the blast, he added. In a separate assault on the city of Kherson, a "66-year-old man sustained fatal injuries" from Russian shelling, Oleksandr Prokudin, Kherson region's governor, wrote on Telegram. — AFP
Muscat Daily
a day ago
- Muscat Daily
Shangri-La Dialogue: US Defence Secretary warns of ‘imminent' China threat
Singapore – United States Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Saturday cautioned that China was 'credibly preparing to potentially use military force' in a bid to reorder the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. Hegseth was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier defence forum, being held in Singapore. China's army is 'rehearsing for the real deal', the Pentagon chief said, highlighting how the Indo-Pacific region was a priority for President Donald Trump's administration. 'We are not going to sugarcoat it – the threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent,' he said. Call to boost defence spending Hegseth reassured Washington's allies in the Indo-Pacific region that they would not be abandoned to tackle the growing military and economic pressures from Beijing. He called on the Asian allies to bolster their own defence spending, adding that 'deterrence doesn't come on the cheap'. 'It's hard to believe a little bit… that I'm saying this, but thanks to President Trump, Asian allies should look to countries in Europe for a newfound example,' said Hegseth, pointing to pledges by NATO members including Germany to move toward Trump's spending target of 5% of GDP, which is a higher percentage of GDP than the US currently spends on defence. Hegseth on China's ambitions Hegseth on Saturday said any attempt by China to invade Taiwan 'would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world'. Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the People's Liberation Army to be able to take Taiwan by 2027, a deadline which experts view more as an aspirational goal than a hard war deadline. Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory. The US defence secretary reiterated Trump's remark that China would not conquer Taiwan under Trump's watch. Hegseth also called out China for its power designs in Latin America, particularly its efforts to step up its influence around the Panama Canal. No top Chinese official at summit Beijing, which sends its defence minister to the annual conference, put forth a lower-level delegation this year, snubbing Washington over Trump's tariff war. 'We are here this morning. And somebody else isn't,' Hegseth remarked, with the US delegation saying that they intended to capitalise on China's absence. The Chinese delegation, which was composed of lower-level officers from the National Defence University, asked the US Defence Secretary how committed his country would be to regional alliances. China has a stronger influence in some nations of the region. Hegseth said the US was open to engaging with nations willing to work with it. 'We are not going to look only inside the confines of how previous administrations looked at this region,' he said. 'We're opening our arms to countries across the spectrum – traditional allies, non-traditional allies.' DW
Times of Oman
2 days ago
- Times of Oman
Trump again claims credit for India, Pakistan cessation of hostilities
Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump once again claimed credit for brokering the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, asserting that he used trade as a negotiation tactic. Speaking at the Oval Office during an event marking Elon Musk's departure from his advisory role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Trump said, "We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting. I believe that could have turned out into a nuclear disaster, and I want to thank the leaders of India and Pakistan, and I want to thank my people. Also, we talk trade, and we say we can't trade with people who are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons. They're great leaders in those countries, and they understood and they agreed." Trump's remarks come amid continued debate over the role of international influence in recent de-escalation efforts between the South Asian nations. Meanwhile, India has clarified that the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan took place on May 10 following contacts between the two DGMOs and while there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving situation since Operation Sindoor was launched, the issue of trade or tariff did not come up in any of those discussions. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India's position on the stoppage of military action has been well-articulated. "Our position on this particular issue that you mentioned has been well articulated. I would refer you to our position that was made clear on May 13. From the time Operation Sindoor commenced on 7th May till the understanding on cessation of firing and military action on May 10, there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation. "The issue of trade or tariff did not come up in any of those discussions. The External Affairs Minister has also made it clear that the cessation of firing was decided upon through direct contact with the DGMOs of India and Pakistan," Jaiswal said. India launched Operation Sindoor following the Pahalgam terror attack, conducting precision strikes on terror infrastructure across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). India repelled subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases. The two countries agreed to stop military action after the Pakistan DGMO contacted his Indian counterpart.
