Business

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he does not expect to be impeached, claiming Democrats have “absolutely nothing” incriminating, despite days of public testimony by witnesses who said Trump withheld aid from Ukraine to press the country to investigate his political rivals.

Trump told “Fox & Friends” on Friday, “I think it’s very hard to impeach you when they have absolutely nothing.” Trump said if the House did vote to impeach him, he would welcome a trial in the Senate.

Paris, 22 Nov 2019; AA: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg highlighted the importance of Turkey for the alliance in an interview Thursday with French newspaper Le Figaro. 

“All allies have criticized the operation, but no one questioned Turkey’s place in NATO,” Stoltenberg told the paper, referring to Operation Peace Spring launched by Turkey in October.

NEW DELHI, Nov 22 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia’s national oil company, PETRONAS is accelerating efforts to strengthen its business footprint in India by providing more innovative, tailor-made solutions that add value to the country’s energy aspirations.

With more than 20 years of strategic partnerships covering six business segments in India, PETRONAS continues to support the country’s aspiration to grow sustainably by pushing the boundaries of its expertise and technological advancements.

MOSCOW, Nov 22 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia will invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to participate in the 2020 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit that the Southeast Asian nation will host, Sputnik news agency quoted Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah as saying on Thursday.

“We, of course, will welcome President Putin’s involvement in the APEC 2020 that Malaysia is hosting next year in November,” Saifuddin said after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

SEOUL, Nov 22 (NNN-YONHAP) — The termination of a major arrangement between South Korea and Japan on exchanging military information was imminent Friday amid no news of a breakthrough, with concerns about its consequences growing.

Last-minute diplomatic consultations were apparently under way to avert the doom of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) ahead of its expiry slated for 12 a.m. Saturday.

Realistically, however, chances seem low that Seoul and Tokyo will strike a deal before the deadline, Yonhap News Agency reported.

22 Nov 2019; MEMO: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree on Thursday to increase salaries for Syrian government workers and pensioners amid the collapse of the Syrian Pound. The order provides an increase of 20,000 Syrian Pounds (about $28) on the monthly salaries and wages of the military and civilian employees.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that Beijing wants to work for a trade deal with the United States but is not afraid to “fight back.”

Reinforcing the upbeat tone adopted by China in recent days, Xi told a visiting U.S. business delegation that China holds a ‘positive attitude’ toward the trade talks.

“As we always said we don’t want to start the trade war but we are not afraid,” Xi said. “When necessary we will fight back but we have been working actively to try not to have a trade war.”

NEW DELHI, Nov 21 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The United States will sell naval guns to India in a US$1 billion deal as American military exports witness rapid increase in their bilateral trade.

India has sought 13 MK45 naval guns and 3,500 D349 Projectile as part of the purchase that includes spare parts, personnel training and technical assistance, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.

JAKARTA, Nov 21 (NNN-ANTARA) – The United States and Indonesia pledged to edge up trade volume by twice, in the next five years, as the two nations still have more business opportunities, which can be explored further, officials of the two nations, said.

Deputy for the Coordination of International Economic Cooperation, at the Coordinating Ministry of Economy, Rizal Affandi Lukman, said here that, both countries have committed to drifting up trade volume to 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, from the current level of 30 billion U.S. dollars.

New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) The Cabinet on Wednesday approved sale of government's stake in five blue-chip PSUs, including Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corp of India (SCI) and Container Corp of India along with transfer of management control, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The government will sell its 53.29 per cent stake in BPCL after taking out Numaligarh refinery from its portfolio, she told reporters here.