Power plays and betraying trust are strategies that ‘could backfire in Asia’, says Japanese former diplomat Hitoshi Tanaka Donald Trump’s approach to peace talks with North Korea has a high risk of “disastrous” results, according to a former senior Japanese diplomat who led breakthrough negotiations with the previous Kim Jong-il ... Read More »
The departure of Italy from the single currency would be a significant weakening of the eurozone, yet retaining Italy in the system under a regime of fiscal chaos would be hardly more palatable There is a paradox at the centre of the Italian political crisis: what may be good for ... Read More »
China’s military announced on Sunday that it had dispatched warships to challenge two United States Navy vessels that sailed through waters in the South China Sea that China claims as its own. The Chinese confronted the American ships and warned them to leave, the Ministry of National Defense said in ... Read More »
Asked about ‘Libya model’, Trump says: ‘That model … was total decimation. That model would take place if we don’t make a deal’ Donald Trump has threatened Kim Jong-un with the same fate as Muammar Gaddafi if the North Korean leader “doesn’t make a deal” on his nuclear weapons programme. ... Read More »
European Commission officials tell The Independent Ms May’s plan would be unacceptable and would go back on previous commitments made by British negotiators Brussels has rejected Theresa May’s new customs proposal less than 24 hours after the prime minister set it out in a bid to placate Brexiteers in her ... Read More »
China rebuffed U.S. concerns about its ties with Venezuela on Tuesday after Washington imposed new sanctions on the crisis-stricken oil-producing country following the re-election of its socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro, the 55-year-old successor to late leftist leader Hugo Chavez, hailed his win in Sunday’s election as a victory against ... Read More »
Government must stop money laundering by ‘kleptocrats and rights abusers’, which is helping Putin subvert international rules A powerful committee of MPs has warned that the government is putting national security at risk by allowing “kleptocrats and human rights abusers to use the City of London to launder their ill-gotten ... Read More »
President set for victory as main opposition party urges voters to boycott controversial election Venezuela goes to the polls on Sunday, with incumbent president Nicolas Maduro expected to win a second term in spite of the country’s spiralling economic crisis. Mr Maduro is set to secure another six-year term on ... Read More »
Coalition hopefuls Five Star Movement and League insist plans for massive financial relief in leaked document are no longer being considered Populist parties attempting to form a government in Italy have floated the idea of asking the European Central Bank (ECB) to write off €250bn (£218bn) of the country’s debt. ... Read More »
EU says it will refuse to negotiate with ‘sword of Damocles’ over its head French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel have rounded on Donald Trump over planned steel tariffs on EU producers, telling the US president to scrap his new policy if he wants to negotiate better ... Read More »
Lebanese Ministry of Information