Tag: US

Iran’s Zarif rejects Trump idea of short war as ‘illusion’

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday warned that US President Donald Trump was mistaken in thinking a war between their countries would not last long. “‘Short war’ with Iran is an illusion,” Zarif tweeted a day after Trump said he does not want a war with Iran but warned that if fighting did break out, it “wouldn’t last very long”. The foreign minister also tweeted: “Whoever begins war will not […]

Marvel re-releases ‘Avengers’ as box office record looms

  LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Marvel announced plans Tuesday to re-release “Avengers: Endgame” with bonus material in theaters, as the summer’s biggest blockbuster drew agonizingly close to breaking the global box office record. “Endgame” has pulled in $2.749 billion around the world, according to industry watcher Exhibitor Relations — the second-highest haul of all time, trailing James Cameron’s “Avatar” by around $40 million. But from Friday, Marvel hopes to entice die-hard fans back […]

Trump, Kim exchanged 12 letters: S. Korea minister

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have exchanged a total of 12 letters since the beginning of last year, South Korea’s Unification Minster said, with the North Korean leader the more assiduous suitor in their nuclear bromance, penning eight. “Since 2018, chairman Kim has written eight letters to President Trump, and President Trump has written four letters to chairman Kim,” Kim Yeon-chul, the South’s […]

Father, daughter drowning fuels anger at Trump migration policies

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A shocking photograph of a Salvadoran man and his baby daughter drowned in the Rio Grande fueled a surge of emotion around the world Wednesday — as US Democrats furiously denounced Donald Trump’s immigration policies. “Trump is responsible for these deaths,” said Beto O’Rourke, one of several Democratic White House hopefuls who took to Twitter to lash out at the president. Former vice president Joe Biden, who is also seeking […]

Iran vows to ditch more nuclear curbs in war of words with US

by Amir HAVASI TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran said Tuesday it will further free itself from the 2015 nuclear deal in defiance of new American sanctions as US President Donald Trump warned the Islamic Republic of “overwhelming” retaliation for any attacks. Tensions between Iran and the US have spiraled since last year when Trump withdrew the United States from the deal under which Tehran was to curb its nuclear program in exchange for relief from […]

Seoul: US, N Korea in talks to set up 3rd Trump-Kim summit

  By ADAM SCHRECK, HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean and U.S. officials are holding “behind-the-scenes talks” to arrange a third summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the fate of the North’s expanding nuclear arsenal, South Korea’s president said, four months after a second meeting between the leaders in Hanoi collapsed without any agreement. There have been no public meetings […]

“Collateral damage” from US-China trade spats hurting smaller countries, says Australian PM

  SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday warned that “collateral damage” from trade spats between China and the United States were hurting smaller countries and threatening the global economy. In an unusually public warning to allies in Washington, Morrison said the “world’s most important bilateral relationship –- the US-China relationship” had become “strained”. “Trade tensions have escalated. The collateral damage is spreading. The global trading system is under real pressure. […]

US border chief quits amid outcry over child detainees

  by Chris Lefkow Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The acting head of the US Customs and Border Protection agency announced his resignation on Tuesday amid a public outcry over alarming detention conditions of migrant children in Texas. John Sanders, appointed to the post just two months ago, said in a letter obtained by several US media outlets that he planned to step down as acting CBP commissioner on July 5. Sanders’ […]

US hits Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei with sanctions

by Sebastian Smith WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States imposed sanctions Monday against Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top military chiefs, tightening the screws on a country that President Donald Trump threatened with “obliteration” if it seeks war. Signing the punitive financial measures in the Oval Office, Trump called them a “strong and proportionate response to Iran’s increasingly provocative actions.” Repeating that “never can Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said […]

US President Trump to visit Seoul after letters with Kim

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — US President Donald Trump will visit South Korea at the weekend after the G20 summit to discuss deadlocked nuclear talks with the North with President Moon Jae-in, Seoul’s presidential office said Monday. Trump will fly to the South Korean capital on Saturday after attending the G20 summit in Japan, officials said, prompting speculation he could try to visit the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula. The visit comes after Trump […]

Governments must regulate social networks, says Facebook’s head of global affairs

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Governments must regulate social networks and not the companies themselves, Facebook’s head of global affairs and a former deputy prime minister of the UK said in an interview Monday. “It’s not for private companies, however big or small, to come up with those rules. It is for democratic politicians in the democratic world to do so,” Clegg told the BBC. Clegg, the former leader of UK political party the Liberal […]

With plastic straw ban, Washington turns its back on its own invention

by Sébastien DUVAL WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — “How do you drink a milkshake without a straw?” It is a question the city of Washington will soon face after deciding, in the interest of the environment, to ban plastic drinking straws — an almost sacrilegious act in the birthplace of this simple object, a seemingly indispensable part of daily American life. In the last century, millions of straws were produced in the Stone Straw Building, […]