‘Tehran will attack 10 times more if attacked by enemies,’ Ayatollah Khamenei says Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the country’s atomic energy body to prepare for an increase in uranium enrichment capacity if a nuclear deal with world powers falls apart after the US pulled out. Tensions ... Read More »
Several killed as Guatemala volcano erupts
An estimated 25 people, including at least three children, were killed and nearly 300 injured on Sunday in the most violent eruption of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano in more than four decades, officials said. Volcan de Fuego, whose name means “Volcano of Fire”, spewed an 8-kilometer (5-mile) stream of red hot ... Read More »
Trump approach risks disaster, warns architect of previous North Korea talks
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 »
Italy’s political crisis could have devastating effects on the European economy
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 Warns 2 American Warships in South China Sea
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 »
Donald Trump’s threat to Kim Jong-un: make a deal or suffer same fate as Gaddafi
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 »
EU to reject Theresa May’s call for Northern Ireland ‘backstop’ to be time limited
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 rebuffs U.S. concerns about ties with Venezuela
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 »
Russian ‘dirty money’ is damaging UK security, MPs say
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 »
Maduro set to win second term as Venezuela slips further into economic crisis
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 »