by Anuj Chopra Saudi Arabia on Saturday named a princess as its first woman ambassador to the United States, a key appointment as the fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder tests relations between the allies. Princess Rima bint Bandar replaced Prince Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of the powerful crown prince who was appointed vice defence minister in a flurry of late-night royal decrees announced on state media. The reshuffle comes as Saudi Arabia […]
Tag: diplomacy
Harry and Meghan in Morocco on last official trip before birth
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived Saturday night in Morocco for their last official trip abroad before the birth of their first child, which is due in spring. The royal couple, Harry in a light grey suit and Meghan in a red dress, were welcomed with a tray of dates, a traditional ritual of hospitality in Morocco, after they landed in Casablanca. “Medical provisions” have been made for the pregnant former American actress, who […]
North Korean leader’s train arrives in China
by Matthew Knight and Claire Lee North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s armoured train arrived in China late Saturday ahead of his highly anticipated second summit with US President Donald Trump in Vietnam, according to media reports. The train arrived in the border city of Dandong after 9:00 pm local time (1300 GMT), according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency and the specialist outlet NK News. Official North Korean news agency KCNA confirmed Kim’s departure […]
Trump rules out reducing US troops from South Korea
President Donald Trump on Friday ruled out reducing US forces from South Korea as part of a deal in his upcoming summit with North Korea. “No, it’s not. That is not one of the things on the table,” Trump said when asked if he would consider pulling some of the 28,500 troops from South Korea. Trump, answering questions as he met at the White House with a senior Chinese official, said that he would not […]
Vietnam readying for Kim train arrival next week: sources
Vietnamese authorities are preparing for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to arrive by train next week ahead of his summit with US president Donald Trump, several sources told AFP Friday. The leaders are slated to meet in Hanoi on February 27-28 to follow up on their first meeting last June in Singapore that ended with vaguely worded commitments on dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Sources told AFP that Kim was expected to arrive by train […]
Pompeo to visit Philippines amid China flirtation
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel next week to the Philippines, the State Department said Friday, as the former US colony increasingly flirts with regional giant China. Pompeo will travel to Manila on February 28 and March 1 for talks with President Rodrigo Duterte, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said. The top US diplomat will be paying the visit on his way back from Hanoi where he is joining President Donald Trump for […]
Kim must make ‘meaningful’ gesture to see sanctions ease: Trump
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un must make a “meaningful” gesture if he wants to see sanctions lifted, US President Donald Trump said Wednesday ahead of a second summit between the two men. “The sanctions are on in full. I haven’t taken sanctions off,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I’d love to be able to, but in order to do that, we have to do something that’s meaningful […]
Trump bars US-born woman who joined IS from returning
by Shaun TANDON / with Gianrigo Marletta in Tampa Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is barring a US-born former Islamic State propagandist from returning home, making the highly unusual case that she is not a US citizen. Trump’s refusal to admit 24-year-old Hoda Muthana comes just as he is pressing Europeans to repatriate their own Islamic State fighters and will likely face legal challenges, with US […]
Seoul willing to resume inter-Korean cooperation ahead of summit: Moon
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Seoul is willing to resume inter-Korean economic cooperation if it would help to hasten Pyongyang’s denuclearisation, President Moon Jae-in said in a phone call with Donald Trump on Tuesday. The US President and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are due to meet in Hanoi for a much-anticipated second summit on February 27-28 following their landmark first meeting in Singapore last year. Those talks –- the first-ever between the leaders […]
Trump hails China’s use of death penalty for drug dealers
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Friday praised China’s use of capital punishment for drug dealers, suggesting that the United States would deal better with narcotics trafficking if it put offenders to death. In China, drug dealers get “a thing called the death penalty. Our criminal drug dealer gets a thing called ‘how about a fine?’” Trump told reporters at the White House. “So if we want to get smart, […]
US officials to meet Xi as trade talks near end
by Ryan Mcmorrow Agence France Presse Top US economic officials were to meet on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the sides aim to wrap up trade talks in Beijing with enough goodwill to extend a truce in their tariff war. The world’s two biggest economies are seeking an accord to bridge their deep trade differences, after President Donald Trump set a March 1 deadline beyond which he would rescind a freeze on tariff […]
Pompeo calls Iran more destabilizing than N. Korea
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo underlined the need for different foreign policy approaches to Iran and North Korea in comments published Thursday, describing Tehran as more “destabilizing” than Pyongyang. “We’ve made very clear that these situations are very different. We take each of them where we find them,” he told US television station CBS in excerpts of a transcript released by the State Department. Washington set 12 tough conditions […]





