Asian shares rise sharply after US president says he will hold a summit with Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement to end trade standoff Shares in Asia have soared after Donald Trump said he would delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods, citing “substantial progress” in trade talks with ... Read More »
Nadine Labaki falls short at Oscars, but makes Lebanon proud
Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki has fallen short of becoming the first Arab woman to win an Oscar for her film “Capernaum,” which was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards Sunday in Los Angeles. The film “Roma,” from Mexico, won the Oscar in the Foreign Film category. The ... Read More »
Brexit backstop: Theresa May to put new proposals to EU
PM heads to Brussels as Philip Hammond declares ‘Malthouse compromise’ unviable Theresa May will present the EU with new legal proposals to solve the Irish backstop issue on Wednesday, which Downing Street hopes will be enough to convince Eurosceptics to back her Brexit deal. The chancellor, Philip Hammond, confirmed late ... Read More »
House investigates ‘White House plan’ to share nuclear technology with Saudis
Top Trump officials pushed plan to share technology despite objections, according to House oversight committee report Top White House officials pushed a plan to share nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia, despite objections from career national security staff, according to a new congressional report. The report from the House oversight committee ... Read More »
Trump says Venezuela’s military will ‘lose everything they have’ if they continue to support Maduro
President’s attack on ‘evils’ of socialism likely made with 2020 presidential election in mind Donald Trump has issued his most blunt threat yet to Venezuela’s military – stop supporting Nicolas Maduro or risk “losing everything”. In a speech in which he claimed “the evils” of socialism were also being turned ... Read More »
Trump will declare national emergency to build border wall after failing to secure funding
Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to build a wall along the southern US border after failing to secure funding for the measure through Congress. The president plans on issuing that declaration after he signs the government funding bill that Congress is poised to approve to keep the government ... Read More »
US could come under attack from space, government report warns
The US could come under attack from space, the government’s Defense Intelligence Agency has warned. Other countries including Russia and China are building technologies that could challenge the perceived advantage and dependence of the American government’s military in space, a new report warns. At its most dramatic, it even suggests ... Read More »
South Korea signs deal to pay more for U.S. troops after Trump demand
Officials signed a short-term agreement on Sunday to boost South Korea’s contribution toward the upkeep of U.S. troops on the peninsula, after a previous deal lapsed amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for the South to pay more. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, where the United ... Read More »
U.S. destroyers sail in disputed South China Sea amid trade tensions
Two U.S. warships sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea on Monday, a U.S. official told Reuters, a move likely to anger Beijing at a time of tense relations between the world’s two biggest economies. Beijing and Washington are locked in a trade war and the ... Read More »
Brexit: UK will not be ‘trapped’ in backstop, May to tell EU
Theresa May will return to Brussels later to press EU leaders for legally binding changes to the Brexit deal. The PM will insist the UK will not be “trapped” in the backstop – the plan to avoid the return of Irish border checks should no UK-EU trade deal be in ... Read More »