SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The two Koreas and the US-led United Nations Command held talks Tuesday on demilitarizing a section of the heavily fortified border dividing the peninsula, as a diplomatic thaw gathers pace. “The three parties examined the progress in removing landmines at the Joint Security Area (JSA)…and discussed other practical matters regarding steps toward disarming the area,” Seoul’s defense ministry said in a statement. The JSA, also known as the truce […]
Tag: diplomacy
Pompeo in Saudi for crisis talks on missing journalist
by Shaun Tandon Agence France Presse RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — US top diplomat Mike Pompeo was in Saudi Arabia for urgent talks with King Salman Tuesday seeking answers about the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, amid US media reports the kingdom may be mulling an admission he died during a botched interrogation. “Rogue killers” could be to blame for the disappearance of Khashoggi, who has not been seen since he walked into the […]
Saudi rejects ‘baseless’ murder claims over missing journalist
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia dismissed on Saturday accusations that Jamal Khashoggi was ordered murdered by a hit squad inside its Istanbul consulate as “lies and baseless allegations”, as Riyadh and Ankara spar over the missing journalist’s fate. As the controversy intensified, the Washington Post reported Turkish officials had recordings made from inside the building that allegedly proved their claims Khashoggi was tortured and killed at the consulate. A Saudi delegation arrived […]
Interpol saga hurts China’s bid to lead global bodies: analysts
by Ryan McMorrow Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing’s international image took a self-inflicted bruising with a secretive investigation into the former Chinese head of Interpol, highlighting its ruthless tactics even as it seeks global goodwill in a trade spat with the United States, analysts said. The election of Meng Hongwei as head of Interpol in 2016 was a triumph for President Xi Jinping’s bid to burnish China’s international profile through leadership […]
US pulls out of international accord over Jerusalem embassy case
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States said Wednesday it was quitting an international accord related to the top UN court after the Palestinians challenged the US move of its Israel embassy to Jerusalem. It was the latest attack on the international justice system by the administration of President Donald Trump, who last month at the United Nations virulently rejected the authority of the International Criminal Court. Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, […]
Iran wants France talks to clear ‘misunderstanding’ over alleged bomb plot
by Amir HAVASI Agence France Presse TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Tehran called on Tuesday for talks with Paris to resolve a “misunderstanding” after Paris accused Iran’s intelligence ministry of involvement in an alleged bomb plot targeting an exiled opposition group near the French capital. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told AFP in an interview that Tehran rejected the French complaint “completely and forcefully”, but said the door was open to talks. “If there is […]
US warship sails near South China Sea area claimed by Beijing: Pentagon
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — An American warship has sailed through waters off the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, in the latest implicit challenge to Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims in the region, the Pentagon said Sunday. “Guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur conducted a freedom of navigation operation,” an official told AFP. “Decatur sailed within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson reefs in the Spratly Islands.” The official said all US military […]
EU launches Asia strategy to rival China’s ‘new Silk Road’
by Damon Wake Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — As doubts grow over China’s vast “Belt and Road” trade infrastructure project, the EU is launching an alternative plan for Asia that it says will not saddle countries with debt they cannot repay. EU member countries are expected to sign off on the new “Asia connectivity strategy” — which aims to improve transport, digital and energy links while promoting environmental and labor standards — […]
New Zealand PM makes UN history with first baby
by Catherine Triomphe Agence France Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — New Zealand’s prime minister has been proclaimed a history maker for taking “first baby” — daughter Neve — into the United Nations General Assembly hall, shaking up what is still a boys’ club of world leaders. Photographs of Jacinda Ardern, 38, kissing and bouncing her three-month-old in the main hall at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit on the eve of the General Assembly […]
Japan PM Abe open to summit with N. Korea’s Kim
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a longtime hardliner on North Korea, said Tuesday he was willing to meet Kim Jong Un after the once reclusive leader’s historic summit with US President Donald Trump. Abe, who one year ago warned at the United Nations that the window for diplomacy with North Korea was closing, took a more open but still cautious tone in his latest address to the world body. […]
North Korea’s Kim to visit Seoul, shut missile site
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make a historic visit to Seoul “in the near future”, he said Wednesday after a summit with the South’s Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang. Moon — who went North looking to bring fresh momentum to the stalled effort to eliminate Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons — said the trip could happen this year unless there were “special circumstances”. Moon added that the North had agreed […]
Moon landing: South Korean leader and North’s Kim begin summit
by Park Chan-kyong Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s president and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un drove together through the streets of Pyongyang Tuesday past thousands of cheering citizens before opening a summit where Moon Jae-in will seek to reboot stalled denuclearisation talks between his hosts and the United States. Kim and Moon embraced at Pyongyang’s international airport — where the North Korean leader had supervised missile launches last year as […]





