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United Kingdom

“SHAMELESS”. “Sleazy.” “Guilty.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced damning headlines that cast his government in bad light just as he browbeats world powers to show moral leadership over climate change.

The government tore the rulebook on how parliament polices ethical lapses by its members this week after a standards committee issued an excoriating report on illegal lobbying by Conservative MP Owen Paterson, pictured.

MPS opted to overhaul the internal disciplinary process instead of endorsing a six-week suspension for Paterson courting severe criticism for “rigging the rules” to protect one of their own. | AFP

eswatini

ESWATINI’S embattled King Mswati III and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have agreed to work closely to establish a national dialogue forum to try to resolve the political crisis which has gripped Africa’s last absolute monarchy in recent months.

Ramaphosa visited eswatini this as chairperson of the Southern African Development Community organ on politics, defence and security.

Ramaphosa said he and Mswati discussed a range of matters relating to the political and security situation in the kingdom, and resolved that eswatini would embark on establishing a national dialogue forum. | African News Agency (ANA)

Iran

IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi warned Western governments this week he would accept no “excessive demands” in nuclear talks which are set to resume on November 29 after a five-month gap.

“We will not walk away from the negotiating table but we will also oppose any excessive demands that would end up harming the interests of the Iranian people,” Raisi said while speaking at a ceremony in Semnam that marked the anniversary on Thursday of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by radical students. | AFP

India

INDIA reduced its fuel price on Thursday to “give relief to the people” for the religious festival of Diwali.

Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel said this was a Diwali gift from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Asked about not reducing the price of petrol and diesel before the by-election, the Agriculture Minister said “if it would have been done before election people might have thought it was done for winning the election”. | Asian News Service

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