Tag: State Department spokesman John Kirby

Duterte declares upcoming Philippines-U.S. war games ‘the last one’

  (REUTERS)  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte plunged one of the United States’ most important Asian alliances deeper into uncertainty on Wednesday by declaring upcoming U.S.-Philippines military exercises “the last,” and ruling out any joint navy patrols. The firebrand Duterte pledged to honor a longstanding security treaty with the United States, but said China opposed joint marine drills in the Philippines starting next week and there would be no more war games with Washington after that. […]

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Kerry unavailable on date of Paris-Middle East peace talks

WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry is unavailable the day a Paris meeting to relaunch negotiations over the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is set to occur, the State Department said Monday. However the United States and France are looking into a possible alternative date for the ministerial discussions, which fall on the US Memorial Day holiday honoring members of the armed forces who died in combat. “We’ve made it clear […]

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Truce in Syria’s Aleppo extended for 72 hours

by Karam al-Masri ALEPPO , Syria (AFP) — A temporary truce in the Syrian battleground city of Aleppo was extended for 72 hours from 00:01 Saturday, as clashes raged further south. The extended pause in fighting for Aleppo comes as international condemnation mounted over deadly air strikes on a camp for displaced people in northern Syria, which the regime and its Russian ally have denied responsibility for. Russia’s defense ministry said the fragile ceasefire had […]

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US rejected N.Korea peace treaty bid: State Dept

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States said Sunday it received a North Korean proposal to discuss a peace treaty for the Korean peninsula but rejected it when Pyongyang refused to consider reducing its nuclear arsenal. State Department spokesman John Kirby disclosed the exchange when asked about a Wall Street Journal report that President Barack Obama’s administration had secretly agreed to peace talks to formally end the Korean War of 1950 to 1953, days […]

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