‘Dotard’ Trump takes on ‘madman’ Kim
An escalating war of words between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un ratcheted up a notch on Friday as the US President dubbed North Korea’s leader a “madman”, a day after the reclusive regime hinted it may explode a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.
Hours earlier, Mr Kim took aim at Mr Trump, vowing to “surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire” and warning he would “pay dearly” for his threat to destroy North Korea if challenged. A “dotard” is an old person who has become weak or senile.
The verbal clash came a day after the US announced tougher sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear programme, on the heels of a Trump speech in which he which he branded Mr Kim “Rocket Man” and declared him to be on a “suicide mission”. “Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!” Mr Trump tweeted early on Friday.
Russia and China have both appealed for an end to the escalating rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang.
New York, Sept. 22: Pakistan refuses to be a “scapegoat” for Afghanistan’s bloodshed or to fight wars for others, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the United Nations on Thursday.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Mr Abbasi did not explicitly criticise US President Donald Trump’s new strategy on Afghanistan but made clear his displeasure with the renewed onus on Pakistan.
“Having suffered and sacrificed so much due to our role in the global counter terrorism campaign, it is especially galling for Pakistan to be blamed for the military or political stalemate in Afghanistan,” Mr Abbasi said. “We are not prepared to be anyone’s scapegoat,” he said.
“What Pakistan is not prepared to do is to fight the Afghan war on Pakistan’s soil. Nor can we endorse any failed strategy that will prolong and intensify the suffering of the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan and other regional countries,” he said. Mr Abbasi added that 27,000 Pakistanis have been killed by extremists since the launch of the US war on terror after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
He called for a priority on eliminating extremists, including from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group and AlQaeda, in Afghanistan.