Yemen rebel missile shot down near Makkah

RIYADH: Yemeni rebels have launched one of their longest-range strikes against Saudi Arabia, firing a ballistic missile that was shot down near Makkah, the Saudi-led coalition fighting them said on Friday.

But the rebels insisted that the missile had targeted Jeddah, the Red Sea city in the region, and not Makkah.

The coalition has been carrying out a bombing campaign against the rebels since March last year and there have been rebel strikes towards the bases from which the coalition mounts air raids.

Saudi Arabia has deployed Patriot missiles to intercept the rebel fire.

Houthi rebels launched the missile “towards the Makkah area” on Thursday evening from their Saada province stronghold just across the border, a coalition statement said.

“The air defence was able to intercept and destroyed it about 65km from Makkah without any damage.”

The rebels’ sabanews website said their ballistic missile targeted the international airport in Jeddah.

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council condemned the attack which it described as “clear evidence” that the rebels are not willing to accept a political solution to Yemen’s 19-month-old conflict.

United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan went further, criticising Iran for the attack.

“The Iranian regime backs a terrorist group that fires its rockets on Mecca... Is this an Islamic regime as it claims to be?” he wrote on Twitter.

Qatar called the attack “a provocation to the feelings of millions of Muslims worldwide”.

All GCC states, apart from Oman, are members of the Saudi-led coalition.

The UAE itself is a major pillar of the Sunni alliance.

The coalition as well as the United States accuse Iran of arming the rebels, a charge denied by Tehran.

The Houthi rebels are a minority group that has fought six wars against Yemen’s government between 2004 and 2010.

In a statement on sabanews.net, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam accused Saudi Arabia of “political nonsense”.

“The Saudi regime which claims it intercepted the missile 65 kilometres away from Makkah which is holy and precious to the hearts of every Yemeni and Muslim could have avoided such media platitude and political nonsense by directly mentioning the city of Jeddah where a military target for the ‘Burkan 1’ missile lies on its northern outskirts,” said Mr Abdulsalam.

“Hiding behind holy sites is... a repugnant attempt to instigate the feelings of Muslims,” he said.

Unless the coalition ends its “aggression, lifts the blockade, and seeks peace”, the rebels “have the right to confront the aggressors in all legitimate and rightful means,” he added.

Second long-range strike Makkah lies more than 500km from the border.

It is the second time this month that the rebels have fired a missile of that range. On Oct 9, the coalition said it had intercepted a missile near Taif, the site of a Saudi airbase some 65km from Makkah.

That launch came a day after a coalition air strike killed more than 140 people attending a mourning gathering for the father of a rebel leader in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, prompting threats of revenge.

In a separate incident on Thursday, rebel fire hit a two-storey residential building in the Saudi border district of Jazan without causing casualties, the civil defence agency said.

The coalition has been fighting the Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who control much of the north of Yemen, including Sanaa, since March 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, now in exile.

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US official warns over 9/11 law during Saudi visit

RIYADH: A United States law allowing victims of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia could have “serious implications” for shared US-Gulf interests, a top Obama administration official said on Thursday.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew made the comments at the opening of a meeting with finance ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, whose most powerful member is Saudi Arabia.

The US Congress voted overwhelmingly in September to override President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA).

Fifteen of the 19 Al Qaeda hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people were Saudi, but Riyadh denies any ties to the plotters.

JASTA allows attack survivors and relatives of terrorism victims to pursue cases against foreign governments in US federal court and to demand compensation if those governments are proven to bear some responsibility for attacks on US soil.

Lew said JASTA “would enact broad changes in long-standing international law regarding sovereign immunity that, if applied globally, could have serious implications for our shared interests.”

He said the Obama administration has proven its determination to hold people responsible when they commit “horrendous acts”, but “there are ways to do that without undermining important international legal principles.” In opposing the law, Obama said it would harm US interests by opening up the US to private lawsuits over its military missions abroad.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have also expressed concern about erosion of sovereign immunity, a principle sacrosanct in international relations. But the potential implications go far beyond the Gulf.

Some British, French and Dutch lawmakers have threatened retaliatory legislation to allow their courts to pursue US officials, threatening a global legal domino effect.

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EU 'not capable' of signing deal with Canada

A trade deal between the EU and Canada is on the brink of collapse because a Belgian region with a population of just 3.6 million opposes it.

An emotional Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland left the talks in Brussels, saying the EU was "not capable" of signing a trade agreement.

Belgium, the only country blocking accord, needed consent from the regional parliament of Wallonia.

The wide-ranging deal, seven years in the making, was to be signed next week.

• Belgium-Canada Ceta trade dispute bedevils EU summit

Speaking outside the seat of the Walloon government, Ms Freeland told reporters: "It seems evident for me and for Canada that the European Union is not now capable of having an international accord even with a country that has values as European as Canada."

She added: "Canada is disappointed, but I think it is impossible."

It was unclear whether the EU would keep negotiating with Wallonia in coming days to solve the impasse.

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Russian ambassador says Moscow ready to provide assistance to Philippines

After the president of the Philippines announced a separation from the US – a statement which his government has since walked back – Russia’s ambassador to the country said Moscow is ready to provide assistance to and fully cooperate with Manila.

Formulate your wish list. What kind of assistance do you expect from Russia and we will be ready to sit down with you and discuss what can and should be done,” Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev told GMA News on Friday.

He went on to state that Russia is open to working with the Philippines in “any area, any field of possible cooperation.”

The ambassador assured the news outlet that Moscow would not “interfere with the domestic affairs of a sovereign state,” and that the “true Russia” is much different than the one portrayed in Hollywood films.

Khovaev added that the Philippines and Russia “deserve to know each other much, much better.”

He also said that Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte impressed Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting in Laos last month, and that Moscow supports the leader’s fight against illegal drugs and criminality.

For its part, the Philippines’ budget minister announced that his country is open to all forms of assistance, but will choose what is in the “best interest of the country,” Reuters reported.

‘Troubling rhetoric’ 

Meanwhile, relations between Duterte and the US aren’t quite as rosy. The Philippines leaderannounced it was “time to say goodbye” to Washington on Thursday, including to military and economic cooperation. 

However, the Philippines’ trade minister, Ramon Lopez, told CNN on Friday that the leader“wasn’t talking about separation” from the United States.

Although Duterte explicitly stated that the Philippines would be separating from the US economically, Lopez said that “in terms of economic [ties], we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the ASEAN region, which we have been trading with for centuries.”

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ISIS fighters enter Kirkuk mosques, kindergarten, take civilians hostage

Islamic State militants have reportedly entered houses and mosques in Kurkuk, Iraq, and taken civilians as hostages. They have also broken into a kindergarten building, according to a Rudaw news agency report citing the city’s police chief.

This latest intrusion comes just hours after Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) “sleeper cells” launched an attack on government buildings in the city that sparked clashes with security forces, and also as Iraqi forces continue their offensive on the IS stronghold of Mosul.

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#BREAKING: ISIS militants enter houses and mosques, taking civilians as hostages in #Kirkuk.

12:56 PM - 21 Oct 2016

 
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READ MORE: ISIS ‘sleeper cells’ attack Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk, sparking clashes & curfew – reports

“It was expected that ISIS sleeper cells would make a move one day in Kirkuk now that the Mosul offensive has started and they want to boost their own morale this way,” Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim told Rudaw earlier on Friday.

“Some of [the militants] have hidden themselves inside mosques and tall buildings and try to shoot as snipers, but our forces are in control and in places where escalations were feared it was all controlled. Strong forces combined of security, police, and anti-terrorism are all inside Kirkuk today,” he said.

“They were sleeper cells...many women and children fled to Kirkuk as refugees and it is possible that some militants had come with them,” Kiruk added, referring to the attackers.

The city’s police chief and governor have called on residents to stay in their homes until the situation is under control.

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700,000 residents, incl. children of all ages, to flee #Mosulduring military op – #UNICEF http://on.rt.com/7s9t 

3:45 AM - 19 Oct 2016

 
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The unrest has so far led to the deaths of at least 28 people – six policemen, 12 militants, and 16 power station workers, according to reports from Rudaw and AFP. The workers were killed in the nearby town of Dibis, located 55 kilometers (34 miles) from Kirkuk.

"Three suicide bombers attacked the power plant at around 6:00 am (03:00 UTC), killing 12 Iraqi administrators and engineers and four Iranian technicians," Dibis Mayor Abdullah Nureddin al-Salehi al-Salehi told AFP.

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Amnesty urges release of two Kashmiri teens detained by India under controversial law

Amnesty International urged the Indian authorities to release two teens who were detained in India-held Kashmir under the controversial Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), read a report issued by the organisation on Thursday.

The human rights watchdog has pleaded for either the release or the usage of appropriate laws and provision of fair trials of the teens.

"Release both Rayees Ahmad Mir and Waheed Ahmed Gojree or charge them with an internationally recognisable criminal offence and give them fair trials in accordance with international juvenile justice standards, using detention only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period, and ensuring that any detention be in a separate facility for children, as close as possible to their families in order to facilitate family contact," said the appeal issued.

The appeal also called for a detailed investigation of the detention of the two boys, and all other cases of detention of children under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.

Amnesty International in its appeal urged the authorities to repeal the controversial Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act and other administrative detention laws in India.

Rayees and Waheed were detained in prison under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, which expressly prohibits the detention of anyone under 18 years of age.

Rayees Ahmad Mir, aged 16 , was arrested on September 16 in Baramulla district under ordinary criminal procedure for allegedly throwing stones at Indian security forces.

Two days later, to prevent his release on bail, an executive official passed an order to detain him under the PSA. The order incorrectly stated that Rayees Mir was 18 years old and he was transferred to the Kot Bhalwal central jail in Jammu, about 300 kilometres from his home.

Rayees Mir’s family challenged the order before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, producing documents that proved he was only 16 years old.

On October 7, the court stated that Rayees Mir should be treated according to juvenile justice rules, as there was prima facie evidence that he was a minor, and ordered his transfer to a juvenile home.

An official at the Kot Bhalwal jail said on October 19: "The prison authorities had not yet transferred Rayees Mir, as they had not received a copy of the court order."

Waheed Ahmed Gojree, also 16 years old, was arrested in Kupwara district on August 18, and detained at a police station.

According to his family, the police initially told them that Gojree would be released the next day, however, they then said that he had been detained under the PSA.

Gojree was first taken to a jail in Baramulla, and then to the Kot Bhalwal central jail in Jammu, about 380 kilometres away.

The family has not yet received a copy of the detention order, or been formally informed about the grounds of Waheed Gojree’s detention, however an official at the central jail confirmed that he had been detained under the PSA.

The authorities appear to have not taken age of the boys into account before issuing the detention order.

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Pakistan urged to extend ‘military support’ to Kashmiris

MUZAFFARABAD: United Jihad Council (UJC) chairman Syed Salahuddin on Thursday asked Pakistan to extend “military support” to Kashmiri freedom fighters to help them accomplish their long-cherished goal of freedom from India.

“The festering (Kashmir) issue is not going to resolve through talks or resolutions… Pakistan should militarily support Kashmiris by providing resources to the mujahideen,” he said at a press conference here.

“If the mujahideen get military support, not only Kashmir will clinch freedom but the map of the subcontinent will also undergo a change,” he added.

He, however, declined to elaborate the kind of military support required by the freedom fighters.

“India invaded and occupied Kashmir at the strength of its military might and military occupation can hardly be brought to end through politics or diplomacy,” he maintained.

The UJC chief said that since the killing of Burhan Wani, the mass movement in Kashmir had been on the rise.

Over the past 105 days, the Indian government exercised each and every measure to suppress the unarmed freedom-seeking people, but, ironically, neither did the international community appeared upset over the atrocities nor the world powers tried to rein in the oppressor.

“When the world is paying no heed to us, the only option left with us is the armed struggle,” he said.

Along with brutal killings, the India government had also resorted to economic terrorism in Kashmir in a bid to pressure Kashmiris into surrendering their legitimate struggle, he said.

According to him, Indian intelligence agencies and their “touts” were trying to create disunity among the Hurriyat leadership as well as Kashmiri public. He was of the view that the base camp of the freedom movement — a reference to Azad Kashmir — should not only send a strong message of solidarity across the divide, but also adopt a forceful, rather aggressive, role in this regard.

Mr Salahuddin asked police in held Kashmir to stand by the unarmed public instead of being in the vanguard of the Indian army.

“Otherwise they [policemen] will have to face the wrath of Kashmiri people,” he warned.

He also drew attention towards the plight of Jammu-based Muslims, saying that they were being terrorised by the official ma­­chinery and radical Hindu organisation RSS alike into migrating from their native areas like in 1947.

“The governments in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad should also raise the problems of Jammu-based Muslims at national and international forums,” he said.

Mocking India’s “surgical strikes” claims, the UJC chairman said Indian troops did not have the courage or capability to cross the Line of Control (LoC) to conduct any such operation.

“The propaganda has made India a laughing stock in the comity of nations,” he said. In response to a question, he said in the prevailing circumstances all political and religious parties in AJK should give a unanimous call to trample the LoC.

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Trump offers to help reduce India-Pakistan tensions

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that if elected, he’d like to mediate between India and Pakistan because the region was a “very, very hot tinderbox”.

But like the Obama administration, Mr Trump also said that he would only mediate if both countries asked him to do so.

In a meeting with the Indian community in New Jersey this weekend, the Republican candidate promised that if voted to power, he would make the United States and India “the best of friends” and they would have a “phenomenal future” together.

“There isn’t going to be any relationship more important to us,” he added.

Later, in an interview to The Hindustan Times, Mr Trump expressed his desire to play a role in reducing India-Pakistan tensions.

“Well, I would love to see Pakistan and India get along, because that’s a very, very hot tinderbox,” he said. “That would be a very great thing. I hope they can do it.”

Mr Trump also referred to “the recent problem” in held Kashmir where Indian forces have killed more than 100 demonstrators since July and a terrorist attack in Uri brought the two countries close to yet another armed conflict.

Asked if he would like to play a role, he said, “If it was necessary I would do that. If we could get India and Pakistan getting along, I would be honoured to do that.”

He said that reducing tensions between South Asia’s two nuclear-armed nations would “be a tremendous achievement” and “if they wanted me to, I would love to be the mediator or arbitrator”.

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Nothing against Pakistan’s people: Indian minister

NEW DELHI: Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that Pakistan should close down what he termed a “factory of terrorism”, while offering India’s help to Islamabad in fighting terrorists.

He told a regional editors’ conference in Chandigarh that India had nothing against the people of Pakistan, but it was the state that had adopted terrorism as its policy.

“That is the reason it has been isolated not only in South Asia, but also in the world. India is ready to help Pakistan in taking action against terrorists in Pakistan. But for that Islamabad should close down ‘factory of terrorism’. This will open vistas of development and help in ensuring peace in South Asia,” Mr Singh said.

Referring to India’s claim of carrying out surgical strikes along the Line of Control against alleged terrorist launch pads, Mr Singh said it was a pre-emptive action and “India does not harbour any ill-will against the people of Pakistan”.

Mr Singh again said his government had decided to seal the border with Pakistan with physical and non-physical barriers by December 2018.

There is about 181.85km stretch in which construction of physical barriers is not feasible due to geographic constraints like riverine, low-lying, creek and marshy areas. In this stretch, advance technology solutions, including cameras, sensors, radars and lasers, will be deployed.

The Indian Border Security Force was testing the available technologies through pilot projects in Jammu, Punjab and Gujarat, the minister said.

“Pakistan’s entire establishment is engaged in fuelling terrorism in India and that’s why the management of areas along the Indo-Pak border has become a challenging task... But those who rear snakes should know they would bite them,” he said.

“If its intentions remain clear, India can help Pakistan carry out an anti-terror campaign, including (in Azad Kashmir). If Pakistan wishes it can seek our help and India is ready to help it... But its intentions are not clear,” Mr Singh said.

“This country shelters not just terrorists. It nurtures a mindset... that loudly proclaims that terrorism is justified for political gains.”

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CPEC could become another East India Company

ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers from the upper house on Monday expressed the fear that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) could turn into another East India Company if the country’s interests were not actively protected.

“Another East India Company is in the offing; national interests are not being protected. We are proud of the friendship between Pakistan and China, but the interests of the state should come first,” Senator Tahir Mashhadi, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development, said when some committee members raised the concern that the government was not protecting the rights and interests of the people.

The East India Company was the British trading mission sent to India, which became the precursor to the British colonial presence in the subcontinent, eventually gaining power and overthrowing the Mughals who ruled India at the time.

Following a briefing by Planning Commission Secretary Yousuf Nadeem Khokhar, a number of committee members voiced their fears over what they perceived as the utilisation of local financing for CPEC projects, instead of funding from the Chinese or any other foreign investment. They also expressed concern over the fixing of power tariff for CPEC-related power projects by the Chinese.

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Senators question why most corridor projects are being funded locally, not through foreign investment

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Since only one of three Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members of the committee was present at the meeting, most of this criticism went unanswered. Even Senator Saeedul Hassan Mandokhail, the lone PML-N senator in attendance, endorsed the committee chairman’s complaints.

The meeting was informed that a major portion of the CPEC depended on local finances rather than Chinese investment.

“It will be very harmful for us if we have to bear the entire burden; will this [project] be a national development or a national calamity? Whatever loans taken from China will have to be paid by the poor people of Pakistan,” Mr Mashhadi observed.

Highlighting the status of CPEC-related power projects, the Planning Commission secretary said that the Matiari-Lahore transmission line project had “not been scrapped” and was being pursued by its Chinese sponsors.

Recently, the National Energy Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had approved tariff for the project, while the government’s Private Power Infrastructure Board had filed a review petition on the tariff in order to address the sponsors’ concerns.

At this, Senator Usman Khan Kakar pointed out that Nepra had fixed the power tariff for the project at 71 paisas/unit, while Chinese investors were demanding 95 paisas/unit.

“The government has filed an appeal before Nepra, seeking the increase despite the fact that the burden will be borne by poor consumers,” he said.

The secretary also informed the committee that the Gadani power plant complex had been shelved due to the lack of a dedicated jetty.

He also said that the 6,000MW project was not part of the CPEC.

Senator Kakar immediately reacted, saying that despite the fact that the project was not part of the CPEC, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong had recently claimed that the Gadani power plant had not been scrapped and was indeed a part of the corridor. “Why is this project, which does not even exist, being counted in our account?” he asked.

He said that the infrastructure being established in Gwadar would only benefit the Chinese and Punjab governments, not the local community. “The people of Balochistan will only get one benefit from this project, which is the water supply,” he said, adding that no electricity or railway projects had been planned for Balochistan under the CPEC.

Senator Mandokhail said that a sense of deprivation was being instilled in smaller provinces. “We do not want the CPEC at the cost of the federation,” he added.

Since Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal was not present in the meeting, the senator urged the secretary to advise him to ensure the integrity of the federation.

Senator Mandokhail also accused the Planning Commission of prioritising Balochistan very low on its list, given that it has not representation in the commission itself.

Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Senator Sirajul Haq said that like certain other parts of the country, Fata and AJK were also being neglected in the CPEC. “There is nothing for both areas in the CPEC,” he said and suggested that a 35km road was built to link Muzaffarabad to the CPEC so that the people of AJK could also reap its benefits.

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United Nations appoints Guterres as new secretary-general

The UN General Assembly on Thursday formally appointed Antonio Guterres as the new secretary-general of the United Nations, replacing Ban Ki-moon.

The 193 member states adopted by acclamation a resolution appointing the former prime minister of Portugal for a five-year term beginning January 1.

Guterres won unanimous support from the UN Security Council during a vote last week that capped the most transparent campaign ever held at the United Nations for the top post.

The 67-year-old polyglot campaigned on a pledge to promote human rights and enact reforms within the UN system, seen as clunky and too slow to respond to unfolding disasters.

The socialist politician, who also served as UN refugee chief for a decade, is expected to play a more prominent role as the world's diplomat-in-chief than Ban, the South Korean former foreign minister who will step down after two five-year terms.

Guterres repeatedly warned that millions of refugees fleeing conflict in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere would turn to Europe if nations such as Turkey and Jordan did not receive more help to cope with their refugee populations.

“When people say they cannot receive Syrian refugees because they are Muslims, those that say it are supporting terrorist organisations and allowing them to be much more effective in recruiting people,” he said in December just before he stepped down as UN refugee chief.

Born in Lisbon on April 30, 1949, Guterres joined Portugal's Socialist Party following the country's 1974 “Carnation Revolution” which put an end to nearly five decades of dictatorship.

His appointment as secretary-general comes at a time of global anxiety over the ongoing war in Syria, the refugee crisis and raging conflicts in South Sudan and Yemen.

The Security Council is deadlocked over Syria after two draft resolutions were defeated in separate votes over the weekend, one of which was vetoed by Damascus ally Russia.

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Women come forward with claims that Donald Trump touched them inappropriately

WASHINGTON: Two women told The New York Times that Donald Trump touched them inappropriately groping a woman in one instance and kissing a woman in another during separate encounters that took place as long as three decades ago, the newspaper reported Wednesday.

Trump told the Times there was no truth to either of the claims.

In a statement, Trump's campaign spokesman, Jason Miller, said “the entire article is fiction” and accused the newspaper of launching “a completely false, coordinated character assassination.”

Another newspaper, The Palm Beach Post in Florida, reported Wednesday night that a woman said Trump groped her at his Mar-a-Lago estate 13 years ago. Trump's campaign said her allegation “lacks any merit or veracity.”

And late Wednesday, a writer for People magazine reported a 2005 incident in which she said Trump kissed her against her will at Mar-a-Lago.

The Trump campaign said, “There is no merit or veracity to this fabricated story.”

The women's stories come less than a week after the publication of a 2005 recording in which the Republican nominee boasted of groping women. Trump apologised for his comments, but also dismissed them as “locker room talk” and a distraction from the campaign.

Both women who spoke to the Times said they were coming forward with their stories because of the recording and Trump's response to questions about it at Sunday's presidential debate.

The New York businessman said then he had never done the things he bragged about on the recording.

Jessica Leeds, 74, of New York, said she sat beside Trump in the first-class cabin of a flight to New York more than three decades ago.

After less than an hour in the air, he lifted the armrest separating them and began to touch her, she said, and grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt.

“It was an assault,” Leeds told the newspaper. She said she fled to the back of the plane and sat in the coach section.

A second woman, Rachel Crooks of Ohio, told the newspaper she met Trump as a 22-year-old in 2005 the same year he was recorded bragging in vulgar terms about grabbing women's genitals.

Crooks said she was a receptionist for a real estate investment and development company located at Trump Tower and met Trump outside an elevator in the building one morning. She introduced herself to the celebrity businessman, she said.

They shook hands but Trump would not let go, Crooks said, and he began kissing her cheeks and then kissed her on the mouth. “It was so inappropriate,” she told the newspaper.

“I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that.”

Crooks said she recounted the incident that day to her sister by phone and to her boyfriend that night, both of whom spoke to the Times. In the case of Leeds, the Times reported it had interviewed four people who said she had told them more recently of her encounter with Trump.

Leeds said she did not complain to the airline at the time because such unwanted advances were common for businesswomen in the 1970s and early 1980s, the newspaper reported.

She said she encountered Trump at a charity event a few years later and said he had seemed to remember her and insulted her with a crude remark.

Both women told the paper they support Hillary Clinton's campaign for president.

In a statement, Miller rejected the women's accounts as “fiction.”

“It is absurd to think that one of the most recognisable business leaders on the planet with a strong record of empowering women in his companies would do the things alleged in this story, and for this to only become public decades later in the final month of a campaign for president should say it all,” Miller said.

The Palm Beach Post reported that Mindy McGillivray, 36, of Palm Springs, Florida, did not report to authorities her 2003 encounter with Trump at the time but had shared the story with close friends and family.

A man who had accompanied her to Mar-a-Lago that day, Ken Davidoff, told the newspaper he vividly remembers McGillivray telling him Trump had groped her.

Davidoff said he had brought McGillivray with him when he joined his father to shoot pictures during a concert by singer Ray Charles on Jan 24, 2003. After the show, as people were saying goodbye to Charles, McGillivray felt “a pretty good nudge, more of a grab” close to the centre of her bottom, she told the newspaper.

“I turn around and there's Donald. He sort of looked away quickly. I quickly turned back, facing Ray Charles, and I'm stunned,” she said.

McGillivray said she considered making a scene at the time but decided “to stay quiet.”

Trump's remarks at the second debate in which he denied groping women changed her mind, she said. On People magazine's website Wednesday, reporter Natasha Stoynoff wrote of a 2005 incident she said happened when she travelled to Mar-a-Lago to write a feature about Donald and Melania Trump's first wedding anniversary.

Stoynoff wrote that while Donald Trump was giving her a tour of the mansion, he wanted to show her one room he described as “tremendous.”

“We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us,” Stoynoff wrote.

“I turned around, and within seconds, he was pushing me against the wall, and forcing his tongue down my throat.”

In response to the Times report, a Clinton adviser accused Trump of lying when he said he had not groped or kissed women without their consent.

The Times story “sadly fits everything we know about the way Donald Trump has treated women” and shows that the “disgusting behaviour” he brags about in the 2005 video “is more than just words,” communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement.

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