March, 2017

• 18 March

  Tweet, but verify

    When President Donald Trump claimed on Twitter that his predecessor had tapped his phones, he created something of a metaphysical crisis. No one — not the Justice Department, not Congress and least of all the president himself — seemed able to ascertain the truth about the accusation. Now that they’ve had some time to look into it, what do ...

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• 18 March

  Avoid conflict in Korean peninsula

    The American diplomatic dichotomy couldn’t have been starker as far as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s approach towards North Korea is concerned. On the one hand Tillerson said North Korea has nothing to fear from the US or its allies. On the other hand, he suggested that US military action against North Korea was an option. Tillerson is on ...

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• 18 March

  Tillerson urges US-China cooperation on North Korea

  

    BEIJING / AP US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Saturday pushed for closer China-US cooperation on dealing with North Korea’s nuclear program in his first face-to-face talks with top Chinese diplomats. Tillerson’s visit to Beijing followed his remarks in South Korea on Friday in which he warned that pre-emptive military action against North Korea might be necessary if ...

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• 18 March

  Russian parliament to investigate US media operating there

    MOSCOW / AP Russia’s lower house of parliament is launching an investigation into US news media that operate in Russia, a move that comes amid growing suspicion in America of Russian interference. A statement on the website of the chamber, the Duma, does not specify how the investigation would be conducted or what might be done with its results. ...

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• 18 March

  Former UK leader Gordon Brown enters Scotland fray

    LONDON / AP Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says Scotland should get more sweeping powers but remain in the United Kingdom. Brown entered the fray over the region’s future on Saturday with a speech in Scotland saying Brexit makes the case for Scottish independence weaker, not stronger. He said Scotland should be able to set some tax rates, ...

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• 18 March

  German FM: Turkey ‘further away than ever’ from joining EU

    BERLIN / AP Germany’s foreign minister says Turkey’s chances of joining the European Union are dwindling, but the country might one day hope for a privileged partnership with the bloc. Sigmar Gabriel told German weekly Der Spiegel in an interview published Saturday that “Turkey is further away than ever before from EU membership.” Gabriel, whose center-left Social Democrats have ...

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• 18 March

  Syrian rebels begin evacuation from besieged neighborhood

  

    HOMS / AP Scores of Syrian opposition fighters and their families began leaving the last rebel-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs on Saturday as part of a Russian-backed evacuation deal signed earlier this week. By midday around 100 fighters and their families had left the city, once known as the epicenter of the 2011 uprising against President ...

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• 18 March

  Man killed after trying to grab Paris airport soldier’s gun

  

    ORLY / AP Soldiers at Paris’ busy Orly Aiport shot and killed a man who wrestled one of their colleagues to the ground and tried to steal her rifle on Saturday, officials said. Thousands of travellers were evacuated and at least 15 flights were diverted to the city’s other airport, Charles de Gaulle. No one else was hurt. Police ...

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• 18 March

  Trump refuses to back down on wiretap accusation against Obama

    WASHINGTON / AP President Donald Trump defiantly refused to back down from his explosive claim that Barack Obama wiretapped his phones, and sidestepped any blame for the White House decision to highlight an unverified report that Britain helped carry out the alleged surveillance. In brushing off the diplomatic row with perhaps America’s closest ally, Trump also revived another: the ...

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• 18 March

  UAE, Argentina discuss ways to enhance mutual cooperation

  

    BUENOS AIRES / WAM His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation met with Foreign Minister of Argentina, Susana Mabel Malcorra. Sheikh Abdullah was accorded an official reception upon his arrival at the venue. The national anthems of the UAE and Argentine were played, followed by an inspection of the Guard of Honour ...

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