Washington, United States | AFP | US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday he will meet with his Russian opposite number Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the weekend, but warned US-Russia ties could still get worse. Some in Moscow and Washington had hoped relations between the former Cold War …
Read More »US to cut 755 US diplomatic staff in Russia, says Putin
Moscow, Russia | AFP | President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said the United States would have to cut 755 diplomatic staff in Russia and warned of a prolonged gridlock in its ties after the US Congress backed new sanctions against the Kremlin. Putin added bluntly that Russia was able to …
Read More »Haftar’s Libya expels 12 Sudan diplomats
Benghazi, Libya | AFP | Authorities in eastern Libya backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar on Thursday ordered the closure of a Sudanese consulate and the expulsion of 12 diplomats, a pro-Haftar news agency announced. It said the order to shut down the mission in Kufra, an oasis in southern …
Read More »UN chief warns C. Africa could plunge back into full-blown conflict
United Nations, United States | AFP | A new bout of violence in the Central African Republic that has killed nine peacekeepers this year risks derailing years of efforts to restore a fragile stability, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday. Guterres condemned the killing of two Moroccan peacekeepers who were …
Read More »N. Korea official: ‘We don’t care’ about US travel ban
Pyongyang, North Korea | AFP | Washington’s ban on US citizens travelling to North Korea will have no effect on the country’s tourism industry and Pyongyang does not care about it “at all”, a senior development official insisted Tuesday. The measure is due to be enacted this week and once it …
Read More »Last chance to see North Korea for US tourists
Pyongyang, North Korea | AFP | The Westerners lined up on Sunday before giant statues of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-Il and, on command from their guide, bowed deeply. It is a ritual that the Trump administration intends to stop US tourists performing, with …
Read More »UAE says changes to Qatar anti-terror law ‘positive’
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | An Emirati state minister Friday welcomed changes to Qatar’s anti-terror legislation as a “positive” step in the crisis between Doha and four Arab neighbours which accuse it of backing extremists. Qatar announced a decree by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani late …
Read More »Gifts to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II go on display
On display at Buckingham Palace, is a portrait of Elizabeth, created by weaving dyed banana leaves together, from Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame in 2006. London, United Kingdom | AFP | Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is putting gifts received from world leaders on display at Buckingham Palace, with the eclectic collection …
Read More »Tanzanian leader Magufuli urges Burundian exiles to go home
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Thursday called on Burundians who have fled their country to return home, after talks with President Pierre Nkurunziza who was making his first foreign trip in more than two years. The visit — kept secret up to the last moment …
Read More »Burundi leader Nkurunziza in Tanzania for first foreign trip in two years
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza arrived in Tanzania on Thursday for his first foreign trip in more than two years, seeking to revive political dialogue on the crisis in his country. Nkurunziza arrived with a heavily armed escort in the northwest Tanzanian town of Ngara, about 15 kilometres (eight miles) from …
Read More »