Washington, United States | AFP | Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will go to Myanmar next week, the State Department said, becoming the most senior US official to visit since the start of the Rohingya crisis. Tillerson’s spokeswoman said he would visit Naypyidaw on November 15 for talks on the “humanitarian …
Read More »Kiir accuses Sudan of being ‘source of weapons’ in S.Sudan war
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Thursday accused Sudan of being a “source of weapons” fuelling the brutal civil war in his country as he met leader Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum. “If there is someone who can accuse the other, it is me who can …
Read More »S.Sudan’s Kiir in Sudan to ease ‘tense’ relations
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | South Sudanese President Salva Kiir began Wednesday a two-day visit to Sudan aimed at resolving border disputes and addressing mutual accusations of supporting rebels in each other’s territory. It is Kiir’s third visit to Khartoum since the Christian majority south split from the Muslim north in …
Read More »Putin visits Tehran for talks on Syria, nuclear deal
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iran’s leadership Wednesday in Tehran as the two Damascus allies push a Syria peace plan and the Kremlin offers its backing for a landmark nuclear deal facing US opposition. Putin — on his first visit to Tehran since 2015 — …
Read More »South Sudan’s government lukewarm about new peace push: UN
United Nations, United States | AFP | South Sudan’s government has shown little interest in a new regional peace initiative that the United States has described as a final chance to end the war, the UN peacekeeping chief said Tuesday. The UN Security Council has thrown its weight behind the drive …
Read More »DRC wins seat on UN rights council despite US opposition
United Nations, United States | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo was elected to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday despite opposition from the United States and a leading rights group. DR Congo was among the 15 countries who won seats during a vote at the UN General …
Read More »Iran move won’t weaken US hand with N.Korea: Tillerson
Washington, United States | AFP | US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Sunday denied that Donald Trump’s threat to tear up the Iran nuclear deal had weakened America’s chance of reining in North Korea through diplomacy. Asserting that Washington had “unified the international community” on the North Korean threat, Tillerson vowed …
Read More »Iranians mock ‘ridiculous’ Trump speech
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iranians responded with anger and mockery on Saturday to the bellicose speech against their country by US President Donald Trump and his threats to tear up the landmark nuclear deal. “I was so angry last night,” said Layla, 42, who runs an artisan shop in …
Read More »Trump puts America first, but more and more alone
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump has gambled with US diplomatic credibility by attacking an Iran nuclear deal that his European allies cherish as a benchmark for international cooperation. And in doing so the US president has underlined the risk that his “America First” foreign policy will translate …
Read More »US, Israel pull out of UN cultural body over ‘anti-Israel’ bias
Paris, France | AFP | The United States and its ally Israel said Thursday they were pulling out of the UN’s culture and education body, in a move that underlined Washington’s drift away from international institutions. The US decision, announced in Washington, follows years of tension at the organisation which it …
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