U.S. President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation last week with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, The New York Times revealed on Friday. The call, seen as a gesture of rapprochement amid heightened hostilities between the two countries, included the possibility of a future meeting between the two leaders on U.S. soil; if so, it would mark a significant shift in relations between Washington and Caracas.
Both sides signed an expanded truce in Malaysia in October but on Monday Thailand's armed forces chief said that had been halted. The Thai military is halting all agreements until Cambodia can show clear sincerity that they will not be hostile, Thai supreme commander general Ukris Boontanondha was quoted as saying in social media posts by the Thai armed forces.
Poland is the closest it has been to open conflict since World War Two, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday after the NATO member state shot down Russian drones over its territory. He said Poland had asked NATO to open consultations under Article 4 of its treaty, which states that members of the Western military alliance will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territory, political independence or security of any of them is threatened.
"The defense ministry suspended the Voice of Freedom broadcast as part of measures to ease military tensions with the North," ministry spokesperson Lee Kyung-ho said at a media briefing on Monday. The "Voice of Freedom, a psychological warfare broadcast, first aired in 1962 and has been on and off the airwaves with the tumultuous trajectory of inter-Korean relations. The program was said to broadcast outside information and K-pop music into North Korea, which strictly regulates the access its civilians have to external information.
If Iran does shut the Straits of Hormuz, between 20 and 30% of all the world's oil and gas goes through that strait. The economic shock that would cause across the world would make what happened when Russia invaded Ukraine just over three years ago seem like small change.
The visit was about more than symbolism. It's about real, practical partnerships between the UK and Taiwan—two societies that value freedom, fairness and international cooperation.
