Danang, Vietnam | AFP | The United States and Russia issued a presidential joint statement saying there was “no military solution” to the war in Syria after their leaders met briefly on the sidelines of a regional summit in Vietnam. There had been mixed messages for days from both Moscow and …
Read More »Morocco, Tunisia take different paths to Russia 2018 World Cup
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | North African nations Morocco and Tunisia took contrasting routes Saturday as they qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Morocco scored twice within five minutes through Nabil Dirar and Medhi Benatia during the opening half to triumph 2-0 in the Ivory Coast and …
Read More »No decision on Trump, Putin meeting: Tillerson
Beijing, China | AFP | Russia and the US disagreed on Thursday over whether US President Donald Trump plans to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told Russian news agencies that the meeting “will be on November 10,” with the exact …
Read More »Russia accuses US of blocking humanitarian aid in Syria
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia on Friday accused the United States of committing a “war crime” in Syria, saying its army had denied Syrian refugees access to humanitarian aid. “The most severe humanitarian situation remains in the Al-Tanf region,” the Russian defence ministry’s Syria reconciliation centre said, referring to a …
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 »Russia indictments dull Trump’s cry of ‘fake news’
Washington, United States | AFP | A wave of indictments has undercut Donald Trump’s attempts to paint allegations of collusion with Russia in his election as a media invention, with the White House admitting the probe is rattling the president. Trump counterpunched in typical fashion Tuesday, a day after it was …
Read More »Paul Manafort: insider politial strategist who led Trump campaign
Washington, United States | AFP | Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman who was indicted on Monday, had always worked behind the scenes in lucrative consultant deals before the 2016 US presidential race. The veteran strategist advised Gerald Ford in the 1970s and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, …
Read More »Trump aide Manafort under house arrest as Russia probe accelerates
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman was placed under house arrest Monday, as an investigation into Russia’s manipulation of the 2016 election shifted to a new and more perilous stage for the White House. After a first wave of indictments were unsealed, Paul Manafort and …
Read More »Kaspersky in focus as US-Russia cyber-tensions rise
Washington, United States | AFP | The security software firm Kaspersky has become the focal point in an escalating conflict in cyberspace between the United States and Russia. The Russian-based company has been accused of being a vehicle for hackers to steal security secrets from the US National Security Agency, and …
Read More »US risks sparking North Korea ‘escalation’: Lavrov
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday warned his US counterpart Rex Tillerson that Washington risks sparking an unacceptable escalation in tensions with North Korea. In a phone call with US Secretary of State Tillerson, Lavrov “stressed the unacceptability of an escalation of tensions on …
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