Tag: diplomacy

Israeli FM to visit Turkey amid threat of Iran attacks

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will visit Turkey next week, his office said Sunday, days after he urged Israelis to leave that country over threats of attacks by Iranian operatives. Sunday’s announcement came after Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke by telephone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and “thanked” him “for the efforts to thwart terrorist activities on Turkish soil”, according to a statement from the Israeli presidency. “President Herzog […]

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WTO strikes landmark deals package after marathon talks

  by Robin MILLARD  GENEVA, June 17, 2022 (AFP)  The World Trade Organization concluded a landmark bundle of deals Friday covering fishing subsidies, food insecurity and Covid-19 vaccines following hectic round-the-clock talks. WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said trade ministers had struck an “unprecedented” number of agreements that would affect the lives of people everywhere. The talks in Geneva began Sunday and had been due to wrap up on Wednesday. But instead the WTO’s 164 members […]

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Deal or no deal as WTO talks grind into second sleepless night

  by Robin Millard  Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Marathon talks at the World Trade Organization aimed at stitching together a tit-for-tat deal went round the clock into Friday with a long-sought agreement on fishing subsidies still hanging in the balance. The talks were due to wrap up on Wednesday but went straight through into Friday, the sixth day, as the WTO tries to prove it still has a role in tackling big global […]

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China vows support for Russia, drawing US ire

BEIJING, China (AFP) — President Xi Jinping on Wednesday assured Vladimir Putin of China’s support on Russian “sovereignty and security” — leading Washington to warn Beijing it risked ending up “on the wrong side of history”. China has refused to condemn Moscow’s massive military assault on Ukraine and has been accused of providing diplomatic cover for Russia by blasting Western sanctions and arms sales to Kyiv. China is “willing to continue to offer mutual support […]

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DR Congo condemns Rwanda’s ‘support’ for M23 rebels

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday condemned neighbor Rwanda for “supporting, financing and arming” the M23 rebel group that seized an important trading hub near the Ugandan border. “We will defend every centimeter of our territory,” added a Congolese communications ministry statement, which came a day after M23 rebels took the town of Bunagana in the eastern province of North Kivu. The statement cited 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner […]

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Australia, China defense ministers meet for first time in 3 years

Australia and China’s defence ministers met for the first time in three years on Sunday, with the talks described as “an important first step” following a period of strained ties. “It was an opportunity to have a very frank and full exchange in which I raised a number of issues of concern to Australia,” Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said, confirming the meeting to journalists in Singapore. The meeting between Marles and Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe […]

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Fiji warns it faces ‘devastating’ climate change threat

Fiji faces its biggest threat from “devastating climate change” rather than geopolitical tensions, the country’s defence minister warned Sunday at a high-level security summit. This weekend’s Shangri-La Dialogue, which brings together defence ministers from Asia and around the world, has been dominated by the United States and China sparring over Taiwan. It also comes as Beijing jostles with Western powers for influence over Pacific island nations. But Fijian Defence Minister Inia Seruiratu sought instead to focus […]

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‘Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow’: Japan PM warns

  Japan‘s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned a security summit Friday that “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow”, as concerns grow that China could invade democratic, self-ruled Taiwan. US officials have said they believe China is closely monitoring how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine progresses to assess their own plans when it comes to Taiwan. Tensions have been soaring over the island, which Beijing views as its territory and has vowed to seize one day, […]

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China vows ‘fight to the end’ to stop Taiwan independence

by Catherine Lai China will “fight to the very end” to stop Taiwanese independence, the country’s defence minister vowed Sunday, stoking already soaring tensions with the United States over the island. The superpowers are locked in a growing war of words over the self-ruled, democratic island, which Beijing views as part of its territory awaiting reunification. Frequent Chinese aerial incursions near Taiwan have raised the diplomatic temperature, and on Saturday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin […]

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Finland to build fences on border with Russia

  HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Shaken by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland is rushing to beef up security on its border with Russia in order to protect itself from hybrid threats, the interior ministry said Friday. Fearing that Moscow could use migrants to exert political pressure, Helsinki plans legislative amendments that would facilitate the construction of sturdier fences on its 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) eastern border with Russia. “The aim of the proposed law is to improve […]

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Iran removal of monitoring cameras may scupper nuclear talks: IAEA

by Julia Zappei with Payam Doost Mohamadi in Tehran Agence France-Presse VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — The UN atomic energy watchdog said Thursday that Iran was removing 27 surveillance cameras at its nuclear facilities, warning this could be a “fatal blow” to negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal. Talks began in April last year to bring the United States back into that landmark agreement, after then president Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 and left it […]

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UN chief warns impact of Ukraine war on world is worsening

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — UN chief Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that the consequences for the world of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are worsening, with 1.6 billion people likely to be affect. “The war’s impact on food security, energy and finance is systemic, severe, and speeding up,” the Secretary-General said, presenting the UN’s second report into the repercussions of the conflict. He added that “for people around the world, the war is threatening to unleash […]

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