Trump Jr says losing India deals due to father's self-imposed curbs

US President Donald Trump's eldest son described India as an important market for The Trump Organization, but said the global company will lose out on new deals because of self-imposed restrictions put in place by his father since he took office.

Donald Trump Jr's comments appeared aimed at blunting criticism that there could be a conflict of interest in pushing the Trump brand name. Trump Jr, at the start of a trip to woo buyers for his luxury residential projects in several cities, said new business would take a hit in India.

"Few years ago, I said it would become our largest (market) because I really believed in the market... I think it will continue to be the same when I am able to get back in the market and focus on the business side, on new deals again in the future, once my father is out of office," Trump Jr. told television channel CNBC-TV18 late on Tuesday.

UN Security Council weighs measure rejecting Trump's Jerusalem decision

The UN Security Council is considering a draft resolution that would affirm that any change to the status of Jerusalem has no legal effect and must be rescinded, in response to the US decision to recognise the city as Israel's capital.

Egypt circulated the draft text on Saturday and diplomats said the council could vote on the proposed measure as early as Monday.

Breaking with the international consensus, US President Donald Trump this month announced that he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, sparking protests and strong condemnation.

The draft resolution obtained by AFP stresses that Jerusalem is an issue "to be resolved through negotiations" and expresses "deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem", without specifically mentioning Trump's move.

It affirms that "any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition" of Jerusalem "have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded."

Diplomats said they expected the United States to use its veto power to block the measure while most, if not all, of the 14 other council members were expected to back the draft resolution.
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Iran's Rouhani names two female vice presidents after liberal backlash

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appointed two female vice presidents today, a day after coming under fire from reformists for nominating no women ministers.

Massoumeh Ebtekar, known internationally for her role as spokesperson during the 1980 US embassy hostage crisis, was named as vice president in charge of women's affairs, having previously run the environment brief in Rouhani's office.

Laya Joneydi was appointed as the vice president for legal affairs, while another woman, Shahindokht Mowlaverdi, was named as a special adviser for citizens' rights.

Rouhani, who had three female vice presidents during his previous term, still has several more deputy positions to fill and it was unclear if any would go to women.

The lack of any women among Rouhani's new ministers, announced on Tuesday, has been strongly criticised by his reformist allies who say he has bowed to pressure from the religious establishment.

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What next for US-Australian ties after Malcolm Turnbull mocks Donald Trump?

As has been widely reported, Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently lampooned Donald Trump in a stand-up performance at Canberra's Midwinter Ball. The ball is the Aussie equivalent of the White House correspondents dinner that Trump boycotted this year, except that proceedings are supposed to be confidential.

The pair had a bumpy start to their relationship. A phone call in late January between the two was far from harmonious with Trump extremely critical of a refugee resettlement deal negotiated with the Obama administration. He allegedly told the PM that it was “the worst call by far” to a world leader and tweeted:

Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017

His administration eventually agreed to implement the agreement. Asylum seekers are currently being assessed with extreme vetting.

Audio of the send-up was leaked by veteran Australian political journalist Laurie Oakes. He argued that he did not feel obliged to follow the “off-the-record tradition” as he did not attend the event and thinks the ban is inappropriate. The Guardian's Katharine Murphy agrees:

If the press gallery continues to agree that midwinter ball speeches off the record, we have jumped the bloody shark https://t.co/KFCbpbFf09

— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) June 15, 2017

Turnbull's routine involves some impersonation of the president complete with gestures. Politicususa summarised the script:

“The Donald and I … we are winning and winning in the polls. We are winning so much We are winning like we have never done before. We are winning in the polls. We are. Not the fake polls. Not the fake polls. They’re the ones we are not winning in. We are winning in the real polls. You know the online polls. They are so easy to win. I know that, do you know that? I kind of know that. They are so easy to win. I have this Russian guy..”
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