Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits US President Donald Trump on Friday for a last-ditch European effort to prevent a transatlantic trade war and save the Iran nuclear deal. Merkel’s working trip is expected to be far more business-like than this week’s pomp-filled state visit by French …
Read More »Trump, Macron call for ‘new’ nuclear deal with Iran
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron called for a “new” deal with Iran Tuesday, looking beyond divisions over a landmark nuclear accord that now hangs in the balance. Trump pilloried a three-year old agreement designed to curb Iran’s nuclear program as “insane” …
Read More »Netanyahu turns up volume as Iran deadline nears
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a fresh call Monday for an overhaul of the Iran nuclear deal as US President Donald Trump’s deadline for further Iranian concessions edged closer. Trump has threatened to tear up the 2015 agreement that lifted sanctions on Iran in …
Read More »Trump: US has conceded ‘nothing’ to N.Korea
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump asserted Sunday that North Korea has agreed to “denuclearization” and a halt to testing while the United States had so far conceded “nothing” in return. North Korea pledged this week to halt nuclear and missile tests as the two countries prepare for …
Read More »Macron warns against being ‘weak’ with Putin
Washington, United States | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron warned against showing any weakness towards Vladimir Putin — while insisting he wants to work with the Russian strongman — in remarks broadcast Sunday on the eve of his state visit to Washington. “He’s strong and smart. But don’t be …
Read More »Iran threatens to ‘vigorously’ resume enrichment if US quits deal
New York, United States | AFP | Iran warned Saturday it is ready to “vigorously” resume nuclear enrichment if the United States ditches the 2015 nuclear deal, and said further “drastic measures” are being considered in response to a US exit. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters in …
Read More »North Korea’s nuclear declaration: what it does and does not mean
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared an end to the nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests that sent tensions soaring on the peninsula, in the region, and beyond. The move, enshrined in a decision by the ruling Workers’ Party, comes ahead of …
Read More »Minister’s ouster unlikely to slow Sudan’s push to get off US ‘terror’ list
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | President Omar al-Bashir’s dismissal of Sudan’s foreign minister, Khartoum’s top negotiator with Washington, is unlikely to affect efforts to have Khartoum removed from a US “terrorism” blacklist, experts say. On Thursday, Bashir sacked Ibrahim Ghandour, who headed negotiations with Washington that in October helped lift …
Read More »N. Korea’s Kim promises no more nuclear or missile tests
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would halt nuclear tests and intercontinental missile launches, in a Saturday announcement welcomed by US President Donald Trump ahead of a much-anticipated summit between the two men. Pyongyang’s declaration, long sought by Washington, will be seen …
Read More »Bashir fires Sudan foreign minister: state media
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday fired Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, state media reported, after he said that Sudanese diplomats abroad had been unpaid for months. In a speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, Ghandour, who negotiated the lifting of decades-old sanctions with Washington in October 2017, …
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