Author: Worldman

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday raised the need to “create a level playing field for trade and investment” in his first meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to the State Department. In the readout by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both had agreed to “strengthen cooperation in the fields …

Read more “US Readout of Top Diplomats’ First Meeting Signals Priorities Set by President”

This is the Top Five Countdown! We’re rewarding the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending February 18, 2017. Welcome to our post-Grammy countdown, which sees “nearly” all the artists participating in the big weekend.   Number 5: The Chainsmokers Featuring Halsey “Closer” The Chainsmokers and …

Read more “Top 5 Songs for Week Ending Feb. 18”

Bosnia-Herzegovina says it will appeal a 2007 United Nations court ruling that cleared the government in Belgrade of genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. …

The Pentagon says leaders of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group are starting to flee their Syrian stronghold of Raqqa as U.S.-backed Arab-Kurdish fighters step up their offensive against the city. …

The United Nations says the number of children in urgent need of humanitarian aid in eastern Ukraine has nearly doubled during the past year to 1 million. …

It didn’t take long for President Donald Trump to start running out of the custom-made Cross pens he uses to sign executive orders.   “I think we’re going to need some more pens, by the way,” he said on Inauguration Day four weeks ago. Trump was handing them out as souvenirs for members of Congress …

Read more “After Flurry of Executive Orders, Trump Awaits More Pens”

Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee was arrested early on Friday over his alleged role in a corruption scandal rocking the highest levels of power in South Korea, dealing a fresh blow to the world’s biggest maker of smartphones and memory chips. The 48-year-old Lee, scion of the country’s richest family, was taken into custody …

Read more “Samsung Chief Lee Arrested as South Korean Corruption Probe Deepens”

Iran sits on what are thought to be the world’s largest gas reserves, yet can barely supply its own domestic demand. Since the United Nations-backed deal over Tehran’s nuclear program spurred the lifting of international sanctions, the country has strived to attract foreign investment in developing oil fields and upgrading its aging infrastructure.  The Ministry …

Read more “Iran Needs Billions to Upgrade Gas Fields, But Will Investors Invest?”

U.S. President Donald Trump says Russia appears to taking provocative steps such as sailing a spy ship near the U.S. East Coast because Moscow has concluded no improvement in relations will occur anytime soon. …

Ukraine this spring will renew its search for human remains at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Dutch Security and Justice Minister Stef Blok has said. …

U.S. media are reporting that former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn may have lied to FBI agents in an interview last month, saying he had not discussed sanctions against Russia with Moscow’s U.S. ambassador. …

Cryonics is a long way from going mainstream, but Russia’s KrioRus, the first cryonics company set up outside the United States, says business is picking up. …

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s nearly month-long medical leave in London is a sharp reminder to taxpayers that while they finance their leaders’ health care abroad, they often are stuck with decrepit, ill-staffed government health facilities at home. For decades, Nigerians have paid for their leaders and former rulers to get medical treatment overseas. That courtesy …

Read more “Nigerian Leader Extends Sick Leave Abroad as Citizens Suffer”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia and the United States would benefit from restoring communications between their intelligence agencies to bolster the fight against terrorism. …

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is taking part in his first major international talks Thursday, joining a gathering of G20 foreign ministers in Germany. Tillerson’s schedule includes a number of sideline meetings with individual ministers, including those from Britain, Turkey, Italy, South Korea, Japan and Brazil. His most high profile meeting outside of the …

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Chancellor Angela Merkel testified Thursday to a parliamentary committee examining alleged U.S. surveillance in Germany and the activities of German intelligence, defending her insistence that “spying among friends” is unacceptable.   The parliamentary panel is investigating alleged eavesdropping in Germany by the U.S. National Security Agency and its relationship with German counterparts. The inquiry was …

Read more “Germany’s Merkel Testifies on Alleged US Eavesdropping”