White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has quit, reportedly in protest at a shake-up of the communications team. Mr Spicer stepped down because he was unhappy with President Donald Trump’s appointment of a new communications director, reports the New York Times. Combative Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci has been picked for the role that Mr … Read more
Three Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded Friday as clashes erupted between protesters and Israeli forces over new security measures at an ultra-sensitive Jerusalem holy site where police restricted access for Muslim prayers. One Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli gunfire in the A-Tur neighbourhood of east Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian health ministry. A … Read more
A key member of Trump´s legal team said he resigned his post Friday, a shake-up as Trump drew fire for apparent efforts to influence a former FBI director’s probe into collusion with Russia. Mark Corallo, who coordinated the Trump legal team’s public response to the crisis, told AFP in an email that he had resigned … Read more
The United States will bar Americans from travelling to North Korea in the coming weeks, two travel agencies said Friday, a month after a US tourist, student Otto Warmbier, died following his imprisonment by Pyongyang. China-based Young Pioneer Tours, which had taken Warmbier to North Korea, and Koryo Tours said the ban will come into … Read more
Despite global sanctions over its weapons programmes, North Korea’s economy grew at the fastest pace in 17 years thanks to a jump in exports and increased production in mining and other industries, the South’s central bank said Friday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) said the North’s gross domestic product grew 3.9 percent last year — … Read more
South Korea urged the North on Friday to break its silence on an offer of military talks aimed at easing simmering tensions over the hermit state’s nuclear ambitions. Seoul had proposed to hold rare inter-Korea talks this week at the border truce village of Panmunjom to ease hostilities after a series of missile tests this … Read more
John Bass has been posted in Turkey since 2014, and has steered US-Turkey relations through an unsuccessful coup attempt and tensions over Syria and the presence in the United States of a rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan US President Donald Trump on Thursday named veteran diplomat John Bass as his choice to become … Read more
Veteran US Republican Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer and is reviewing treatment options, according to his office. The options may include chemotherapy and radiation, his doctors said. The 80-year-old politician is in “good spirits” recovering at home. He thanked those who had wished him well and said he would be back … Read more
The outpouring of affection for US Senator John McCain, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, highlights the respect the maverick Republican — symbol of a bygone era of bipartisan cooperation — has earned over his long career. The former Vietnam prisoner of war and 2008 Republican presidential nominee has been a reliably even-keeled voice … Read more
Teens from Burundi robotics team go missing in US Six teenagers from Burundi taking part in a robotics competition in the US have been reported missing, police say. Four boys and two girls – aged from 16 to 18 – disappeared during the First Global Challenge tournament in Washington DC. The DC Police Department says … Read more
John McCain, the Republican maverick and conservative force in the US Senate, promised Thursday he would “be back soon” after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Since the diagnosis, McCain has been showered with tributes from all sides as an American original whose lifetime of public service included years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam … Read more
Donald Trump hit the six-month point of his turbulent presidency Thursday in combative style — lashing out at his own attorney general over the probe into Russia’s alleged election meddling that has dogged him from day one. Since taking office on January 20, Trump has been on a roller coaster ride, and the gut-wrenching twists … Read more
Two of six teens from Burundi who were reported missing in Washington after taking part in an international robotics competition have been seen crossing into Canada, police said Thursday. Police posted photographs of the six — four young males and two females — who participated in the First Global Challenge robotics meet — on Twitter. … Read more
The United States on Thursday hit oil giant ExxonMobil with a $2 million fine for violating Ukraine-related sanctions, at a time when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was still in charge of the company. The Treasury Department said Exxon had business dealings with Igor Sechin, president of Russian state energy company Rosneft, who was blacklisted … Read more
The Islamic State group is falling “very fast,” US President Donald Trump said Thursday as he visited the Pentagon for a military strategy meeting. “We’re doing very well against ISIS. ISIS is falling fast, very fast,” Trump said, using another acronym for IS. Trump’s comments come at the six-month mark of his presidency, for which … Read more
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday he intends to stay in his job despite blistering criticism from President Donald Trump over the top law enforcement official’s decision to recuse himself from the Russia election meddling probe. Asked at a press conference if he plans to resign, Sessions replied: “I have the honor of serving … Read more
The parents of Austin Tice, a freelance reporter who went missing in Syria nearly five years ago, urged their son’s captors on Thursday for “another chance” to negotiate his release. Speaking in Beirut, Marc and Debra Tice said they were encouraged by the US administration’s efforts to get their son home, but that it was … Read more
Hundreds of refugees being held at a remote Papua New Guinea detention camp will be moved by October despite uncertainty over a resettlement deal with the United States, Australia’s immigration minister said Thursday. Canberra sends asylum-seekers who try to enter the country by boat to camps on Nauru and PNG’s Manus Island, with those found … Read more
John McCain, the Arizona senator and former Republican presidential candidate, has been diagnosed with brain cancer. A brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was removed from McCain along with a blood clot in a surgery at the Mayo Clinic on Friday, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. McCain’s office had only previously announced that the blood … Read more
President Donald Trump downplayed his second, undisclosed meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, saying the conversation consisted of ‘pleasantries more than anything else’. Trump said that his second meeting with Putin lasted about 15 minutes during dinner for world leaders at the G20 summit in Germany earlier this month. The US president acknowledged … Read more