America

    Donald Trump has begun his effort to dismantle Barack Obama’s legacy, formally scrapping a flagship trade deal with 11 countries in the Pacific rim. The new president also signed executive orders to ban funding for international groups that provide abortions, and placing a hiring freeze on non-military federal workers. Trump’s decision not to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) came as little surprise. During his election campaign he railed against international trade deals, blaming them for job losses and focusing anger in the industrial heartland. Obama had argued that this deal would provide an effective counterweight to China in the region. “Everyone knows what that means, right?” Trump said at Monday’s signing ceremony in the White House. “We’ve been talking abou...

শীর্ষবিন্দু আন্তর্জাতিক নিউজ ডেস্ক: দিনটিকে মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের নতুন প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প নিজেই বলেছেন এটি তার প্রথম সত্যিকার কাজের দিন। আর এদিনই তিনি আরেকটি নির্বাচনী প্রতিশ্রুতি পূরণ করলেন টিপিপি বলে পরিচিত বাণিজ্য চুক্তি বাতিলের মধ্য দিয়ে। সাবেক প্রেসিডেন্ট বারাক ওবামার এশিয়া নীতির আওতায় যুক্তরাষ্ট্রসহ এশিয়া ও প্রশান্ত মহাসাগরীয় অঞ্চলের ১২টি দেশ টিপিপি চুক্তি স্বাক্ষর করে। চুক্তিতে সদস্য দেশগুলোর মধ্যে দ্বিপক্ষীয় বাণিজ্যের ক্ষেত্রে বিনা শুল্ক সুবিধার কথা বলা হয় এবং চুক্তির লক্ষ্য ছিল অর্থনৈতিক সম্পর্ক জোরদারের পাশাপাশি প্রবৃদ্ধি বাড়ানো। যুক্তরাষ্ট্র, জাপান, মালয়েশিয়া, অস্ট্রেলিয়া, নিউজিল্যান্ড, কানাডা ও মেক্সিকোসহ অন্য আরও দেশের দীর্ঘ আলোচনার পর ২০১৫ সালে চুক্তিটি স্বাক্ষরিত হয়। তবে দ্বিধাবিভক্ত মার্কিন কংগ্রেস চুক্তিটি অনুমোদন করেনি। ট্রাম্প কলমের এক খোঁচায় এ চুক...

    Michelle receiving present from Melania Melania Trump's parting gift to the former first lady set tongues wagging yesterday, not least because of Michelle's priceless reaction to the present. But more intriguing is what was actually in the large box, unmistakably dressed in Tiffany's signature colours. As Melania and Donald walked up the steps of the White House, a gloved Melania carried the box and was quick to present it to Michelle. With a hand outstretched, a warm Michelle ignored a handshake and went straight in for an embrace and a kiss on the cheeks. That's a present for you, a smiling Melania told Michelle, who awkwardly took the box and quickly turned for someone to take it from her so they can have their photo altogether on the White House steps. Her face said it...

    US President Donald Trump on Sunday discussed Iran with Benjamin Netanyahu and invited the Israeli prime minister to visit the White House early on next month. The two leaders spoke by telephone and agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including addressing the threats posed by Iran, the White House said in a statement, signalling the new administration’s tougher line on Tehran. The statement also said that Trump invited Netanyahu to an early February meeting at the White House. Israel approved hundreds of new settler homes in east Jerusalem Sunday hours before the telephone call, which an Israeli statement described as very warm. But a potentially explosive plan to annex a large West Bank Jewish settlement unilaterally was shelved until afte...

    There's a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, and that applies to the outgoing First Lady Michelle Obama as she was given a parting gift by new First Lady Melania Trump. Following tradition, a very graceful Melania brought along a gift inside a Tiffany & Co. box for Michelle. As Melania and Donald walked up the steps of the White House, a gloved Melania carried the box and was quick to present it to Michelle . ABC With a hand outstretched, a warm Michelle ignored a handshake and went straight in for an embrace and a kiss on the cheeks. That's a present for you, a smiling Melania told Michelle, who awkwardly took the box and quickly turned for someone to take it from her so they can have their photo altogether on the White House steps. Her face said it all ...

    British Prime Minister Theresa May says she will discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she meets President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday. May is set to become the first foreign leader to meet with the new president. She said Sunday she looks forward to expanding the special relationship between the U.S. and Britain. She told the BBC's Andrew Marr that the Trump administration is interested in a good trade deal with Britain despite its stated "America first" policy. May says Trump values NATO even though he has spoken critically of the alliance. The prime minister did not directly answer questions about whether she would challenge Trump on some of the comments he has made about women. She earlier criticized him for derogatory commen...

    Supporters of Vladimir Putin are holding an all-night party in Moscow to celebrate the inauguration of Donald Trump. One of the organisers, Konstantin Rykov, who has served as a Russian MP affiliated to Putin’s United Russia Party and has also been described as a Kremlin web propagandist, invited his facebook followers to the event with the comment: See you in the evening. Washington will be ours. Russian nationalists attending the party will also be treated to a presentation of the political concept of Triptych by an art group which has created flattering portraits of Putin, Trump and Marine Le Pen, the hard-right French Front National leader. Putin calls creators of Trump dossier worse than prostitutes Otherwise, you'll miss the most important point presidential oath, as...

    Donald Trump split away from his inauguration festivities Friday to sign the first executive order of his presidency, which directed the federal government to begin dismantling Obamacare. The wide-ranging, single-page order instructs government agencies to waive, defer, grant exemptions from or delay implementation of any provision or requirement of the healthcare law that could pose a fiscal burden on state, drug companies, individuals and insurers. Since the Affordable Healthcare Act has been set in regulation, Mr Trump cannot fully repeal the 2010 law with executive action. Today's symbolic order fulfilled his campaign promise to immediately begin repealing his President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. The memo also states that it's the administration's priorit...

    Donald J. Trump, proudly unpresidential in word and tweet during the transition, readily embraced the pomp-and-patriotism visuals of the presidency on Friday. There were some images that even an appearance obsessed branding impresario could not control: a less-than-packed inaugural parade route, an inauguration crowd markedly smaller than the one Barack Obama drew in 2009, and protesters who set a limousine on fire in the afternoon. But Mr. Trump glided through hours of ceremony, intent on projecting the image of a confident and unifying leader, even as scores of protesters were being arrested on the streets of Washington and opponents tried to heckle his Inaugural Address. I see my generals; they are central casting, Mr. Trump said during a luncheon with legislators and m...

    US President-elect Donald Trump and his family take part in a Make America Great Again welcome concert in Washington today. Donald John Trump, a billionaire with no experience of government or the military, will be sworn in as America's 45th President and commander-in-chief later today. The businessman, who became well known to millions of Americans as the star of his reality TV series The Apprentice, steps up to his new job at the age of 70 - breaking Ronald Reagan's record as the oldest man to assume the Presidency. On Thursday, the trappings of high office were already evident. He dispensed with his familiar personal jet and its Trump branding, and he arrived in Washington DC aboard a US military plane. Mr Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence later laid a wreath at...