The latest on world reaction to the U.S. presidential election (all times local):
11:45 a.m.
An Israeli Cabinet minister has called for a renewed wave of settlement construction now that President-elect Donald Trump is signaling an end to longstanding White House opposition to the settlements.
Science Minister Ofir Akunis told Army Radio Thursday that, “We need to think how we move forward now when the administration in Washington, the Trump administration and his advisers, are saying that there is no place for a Palestinian state.”
Earlier, Jason Greenblatt, one of Trump’s advisers on Israel, told Army Radio that Trump doesn’t believe settlement activity should be condemned and doesn’t view the settlements as an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.
Multiple U.S. administrations have condemned any construction on land captured by Israel in the 1967 war — land that Palestinians want for a future state.
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11:40 a.m.
About two dozen Filipino left-wing students have burned a portrait of President-elect Donald Trump along with a mock American flag at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, warning of worse times under his upcoming leadership.
Left-wing protests by students, labor and human rights groups are a common sight at the heavily-fortified embassy, often staged to oppose the presence of visiting U.S. forces in the former American colony. But activists say they are bracing for more intense rallies against Trump.
will remove its control on the Philippines and in the Asia Pacific.”
He says under Trump, “we expect it to worsen with his anti-Muslim, anti-black and anti-immigrants declarations.”
More than 100 riot police kept watch, but the small group of protesters dispersed without any incidents or arrests.
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11:20 a.m.
Hungary’s prime minister says Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election will allow Western civilization to return to “true democracy and straight, honest talk” as it is freed from the “paralyzing constraint of political correctness.”
Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who said in July that Trump’s migration policies made him the better choice for Europe, said Thursday that the results of the U.S. elections also meant that the West had rid itself of “liberal non-democracy,” which had held it in “ideological captivity” for the past 20 years.
Orban said the world is living in “great times” thanks to Trump’s victory and the British decision to leave the European Union, which he described as “not a tragedy” but an attempt by Britain to find its own road to success. Orban met with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday in London.
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10 a.m.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the armed forces chief of staff has criticized Donald Trump for his past harsh words about confronting Iranian boats in the Persian Gulf.
The report quotes Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri as saying, “The person who has recently achieved power, has talked off the top of his head! Threatening Iran in the Persian Gulf is just a joke.”
He said American presidential candidates during their campaigns “eat too much sugar,” a reference to a Farsi proverb about those who talk nonsense.
In September, Trump said Iranian ships trying to provoke the U.S. “will be shot out of the water.”
In January, Iran took 10 American sailors prisoner ship veered off course into Iranian waters; they were released a day later.
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9:30 a.m.
A top adviser to President-elect Donald Trump says his boss doesn’t think Israeli settlements should be condemned and they don’t pose an “obstacle to peace.”
Jason Greenblatt’s comments to Israel’s Army Radio Thursday would mark a stark departure from the long-time American stance that Israeli construction in areas captured in the 1967 war makes it more difficult to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Greenblatt is the chief legal officer and executive vice president at the Trump Organization. He has been tapped by Trump as his top adviser on Israel.
Israel and the U.S. are close allies but relations were often tense between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mainly over Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians. Netanyahu and Trump are friendly and ties are expected to improve.
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8:55 a.m.
Pakistani foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz says his country would like to work with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the common interest of combatting terrorism.
In an interview with Pakistan’s Geo News channel Thursday, he says that helping negotiate a political settlement in Afghanistan is another area where the two countries could work together.
The U.S. president-elect has publicly criticized Pakistan in the past for battling some Islamic militant groups while tolerating others.
Aziz acknowledged that perception, but said such policies were “in the past.”
Local and al-Qaida linked Islamic militants who have had long used Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions along the Afghan border as safe havens. The Afghan government frequently accuses Islamabad of sheltering the senior leadership of the Taliban.
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8:20 a.m.
South Korea says President-elect Donald Trump has promised to maintain the countries’ strong alliance to guard against what he describes as “the instability in North Korea.”
President Park Geun-hye’s office says Trump made the comments while saying he believes North Korea is very unstable during a 10-minute telephone conversation with Park on Thursday.
Park’s office quotes Trump as saying the United States “will be steadfast and strong with respect to working with (South Korea) to protect against the instability in North Korea.”
A statement from Park’s office says Trump told Park “we are going to be with you 100 percent” when Park proposed strengthening the alliance to make the North Korean leadership change its way of thinking.
There have been worries in South Korea that a Trump presidency could bring a major shift in U.S. economic and diplomatic ties with Seoul. Trump has questioned the value of the U.S.-South Korea security alliance.
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6:30 a.m.
A Japanese official says Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump next week.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters Thursday that Abe and Trump had talked by telephone and confirmed the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and their commitment for cooperation.
Their meeting “marks a very good start for building trust,” Suga said. Their talks are being arranged for Nov. 17 in New York.
Officials said Abe and Trump also confirmed their resolve to cooperate in ensuring peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, but did not discuss the trans-Pacific trade pact and other contentious issues such as the cost of American troops in Japan.
Kyodo News agency additionally reported that Trump praised the Japanese premier’s “Abenomics” economic measures.
[Source:-Lowel Sun]