Troops from North and South Korea began removing some landmines along their heavily fortified border on Monday, the South’s defense ministry said, as part of a pact to reduce tension and build trust on the divided peninsula. Project details were agreed during last month’s summit in Pyongyang, the capital of ... Read More »
Special Purpose Vehicle aims to keep Iran in 2015 nuclear deal with barter system The European Union, Iran, China and Russia have set out a plan to sidestep unilateral US sanctions designed to cripple the Iranian economy and force the Iranians to renegotiate the nuclear deal signed in 2015. European ... Read More »
Summit could lower tensions between Tokyo and Pyongyang but Japanese PM still wants action on cold war abductions Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has said he is willing to meet Kim Jong-un in a move that could lower simmering tensions between Tokyo and Pyongyang. But he insisted that any summit ... Read More »
Venezuela’s socialist president Nicolas Maduro accused the right-wing governments of Chile, Colombia and Mexico on Monday of helping “terrorists” who tried to kill him during a drone attack in early August. The three countries refuted Venezuela’s accusations that they were linked to the attack, which used drones carrying explosives during ... Read More »
Russia blames Israel for the downing of a military aircraft last week Moscow has announced it will supply advanced S-300 surface-to-air and jamming systems to Syria within the next two weeks. Speaking on Monday, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed the move would “cool hotheads” in the region. But he also ... Read More »
The U.S. State Department has approved the sale to Taiwan of spare parts for F-16 fighter planes and other military aircraft worth up to $330 million, the Pentagon said on Monday. U.S. military sales to self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, is an irritant in the relations between ... Read More »
Perception of growing influence from China has stoked tensions in recent years Hong Kong has taken the unprecedented step of banning a pro-independence party, invoking a colonial-era “national security” law for the first time since Britain handed over control of the territory to China in 1997. The Hong Kong National ... Read More »
Lower house of parliament endorses UN findings of crimes against humanity by military and calls for prosecution Canadian lawmakers have unanimously voted to declare Myanmar’s military actions against the Rohingya people a genocide. The House of Commons endorsed the findings of a UN fact-finding mission on Myanmar that found “crimes ... Read More »
President Donald Trump will impose 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, and those duties will rise to 25 percent at the end of the year. The action, announced by the Trump administration Monday, escalates a trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies. China has already ... Read More »
The US ambassador to the UN says Russia can no longer be trusted Nikki Haley has accused Russia of “cheating” and helping North Korea skirt strict United Nations placed on them for their nuclear development activities. The US ambassador to the UN was speaking at a Security Council meeting when ... Read More »
Lebanese Ministry of Information