Tag: diplomacy

US says it is dedicated to ‘multilateralism’ despite leaving UN rights council

  GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Washington remains committed to working diplomatically with other countries to solve problems, despite its decision this week to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, a US ambassador said Friday. “Multilateralism works, and we are engaged across the board in a number of international organizations and entities,” Robert Wood, the US ambassador to the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament, told reporters. His comment came days after Washington withdrew from the UN’s […]

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Koreas discuss reunions for war-separated families

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North and South Korea on Friday held Red Cross talks to discuss resuming reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, the latest step in the diplomatic thaw on the peninsula. Millions of people were separated during the conflict that sealed the division between the two Koreas nearly 70 years ago. Most died without having a chance to see or hear from their relatives on the other side of […]

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N. Korea ‘already starting’ denuclearization: Trump

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — North Korea has already begun its denuclearization, US President Donald Trump said Thursday, after many observers greeted with skepticism the results of his historic meeting with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un. “They’ve already blown up one of their big test sites. In fact, it was actually four of their big test sites. And the big thing is, it will be a total denuclearization, which is already starting,” Trump said at a cabinet […]

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Japan halts missile drills after Trump-Kim summit: reports

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has halted evacuation drills simulating a North Korean missile attack in the wake of historic talks between Washington and Pyongyang, local media reported Thursday. Government officials did not immediately confirm the reports, but authorities in one town told AFP they were suspending a drill planned for next week on orders from Tokyo. The decision comes after US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un met last week […]

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South Sudan foes set to meet after two years

  ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) — The two figures at the centre of the civil war that has ravaged South Sudan are scheduled to meet on Wednesday for the first time in nearly two years. Ethiopia, which has helped broker the meeting, says rebel leader Riek Machar, who fled South Sudan in July 2016, is expected to meet face-to-face with the country’s president, Salva Kiir. The official scope of the talks is broad — to build bridges […]

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North Korea’s Kim hails ‘unity’ with China in new visit

  by Becky Davis © Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Kim Jong Un declared North Korea’s unstinting “friendship, unity and cooperation” with Beijing during his third visit to China this year, in a show of loyalty to his main ally following a landmark summit with US President Donald Trump. The two-day visit which ends Wednesday is designed to reassure Beijing that Pyongyang will not neglect its interests as Trump and the young autocrat move into […]

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US withdraws from ‘cesspool’ UN rights body

  by Dave Clark / with Carole Landry at the United Nations © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States | AFP The United States withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday, condemning the “hypocrisy” of its members and its alleged “unrelenting bias” against Israel. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, came to Washington to announce the decision alongside President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Both insisted the United States […]

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Updated: North Korea’s Kim makes two-day visit to China

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is making a two-day visit to Beijing, Chinese state media reported Tuesday, a week after his unprecedented summit with US President Donald Trump. The outing comes as China has sought to strengthen its role as a mediator between the US and North Korea, where Beijing claims compelling security and economic interests. Dozens of security vans, police cars and armoured vehicles lined streets around Beijing’s Diaoyutai State […]

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North Korea’s Kim visiting China Tuesday and Wednesday: state media

BEIJING, China (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is visiting China on Tuesday and Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV said, a week after his unprecedented summit with US President Donald Trump. CCTV did not say whether Kim had arrived in Beijing, but security lined the freeway leading to the city’s airport Tuesday morning as authorities prepared for his arrival. The trip will be Kim’s third to China since March, when he made his inaugural foreign […]

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Koreas discuss joint teams at 2018 Asian Games

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The two Koreas on Monday discussed forming unified teams for the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia to extend the burgeoning diplomacy on the peninsula that took off at the Winter Olympics. At their historic summit in April, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had agreed to joint participation in “international sports events such as the 2018 Asian Games”. On the agenda for the […]

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Major US military exercises with South Korea ‘suspended indefinitely’

  by Thomas Watkins, with Ben Dooley in Beijing Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military has indefinitely postponed major joint exercises with South Korea, an official told AFP on Thursday, acting on President Donald Trump’s pledge to halt the “provocative” military drills following his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. The move, a significant break in how the US and South Korean militaries have worked together for decades, came […]

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UN chief urged to raise Ukrainian prisoners in talks with Putin

  UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United States, France, Britain and 35 other countries asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday to raise the case of jailed film director Oleg Sentsov and dozens of other Ukrainian prisoners during his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week. The UN chief will hold talks with Putin on Wednesday and attend a Portugal-Morocco match during the World Cup that Russia is hosting. The 38 countries wrote […]

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