Diplomatic Cross

By: Angela-Diplomacy cannot be dictated by "fits of anger", French President Emmanuel Macron has warned after the G7 summit in Canada ended in acrimony. In tweets, US President Donald Trump described host Justin Trudeau as "dishonest and weak" and retracted his endorsement of the joint communique. The  statement sought to overcome deep disagreements, notably over trade.  Mr Macron's office said France and other EU countries would maintain their support for the final G7 communique. "Let's be serious and worthy of our people. We make commitments and keep to them," a statement from the French presidency quoted by AFP news agency said. "International co-operation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks," it added. Germany also said it would abide by the communique. So how did the latest spat unfold? In recent weeks, trading partners of the US have criticised new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports...

President Xi Jinping gave China’s first friendship medal to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday as the neighboring giants touted their close ties amid diplomatic and economic challenges from the US. XI China president honors Putin with first ‘friendship medal’ President Xi Jinping gave China’s first friendship medal to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday as the neighboring giants touted their close ties amid diplomatic and economic challenges from the US. Xi placed the large golden medal around Putin’s neck at the grandiose Great Hall of the People in front of dignitaries from both countries. China’s “highest honour” is bestowed on foreigners who have made “outstanding contributions” to the country’s modernisation drive and helped maintain world peace, Xi said. ‘Fruitful’ talks with Xi follow award of honour to Russian leader “This medal of friendship represents the Chinese people’s lofty respect for President Putin, and symbolises the ...

 Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have reaffirmed their commitment to preserving a 2015 landmark nuclear agreement despite the US move to pull out of it, the Kremlin says. Web Desk | The Russian and German leaders held a telephone conversation on Friday, few days after US President Donald Trump defied protests and last-minute lobbying by his European partners and unilaterally decided to withdraw from the historic nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and impose new sanctions on Tehran. "I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said Tuesday in a televised address from the White House. “This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made.” Kremlin quoted a statement issued following the call as saying that Putin and Merkel discussed the situation around the nuclear deal "following the unilateral withdrawal...

RT Report Show that, Some 28 Israeli aircraft fired around 60 air-to-surface rockets in a massive overnight strike in Syria, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Syrian air-defence systems managed to intercept more than half of the missiles. A total of 70 projectiles, including 60 air-to-surface rockets and more than 10 surface-to-surface missiles, hit Iranian military targets and Syrian air-defence systems near Damascus and in the south of the country on Thursday morning, the Russian military said in a statement. “28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 planes were involved in the attack,”  the ministry said.  “Syrian air-defence systems shot down more than half of the rockets as they repelled the Israeli attack.” Israeli forces bombed the Syrian territory for two hours between 1:45am and 3:45am local time on Thursday. The attack was carried out under the pretext of allegations that Iranian forces had earlier hit Israeli targets in the Golan Heights. The damage inflicted on...

Monitoring Desk -A court in Iraq has handed down life sentences to nearly two dozen Russian women over illegal entry, membership in Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, and involvement in acts of terror across the war-ravaged Arab country. A picture taken on April 29, 2018 in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq shows Russian women, who have been sentenced to life in prison on grounds of joining Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, standing with their children in a hallway. (Photo by AFP) A judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, which is the country's flagship criminal justice institution, found 19 female Russian citizens guilty of “joining and supporting Daesh.” The court issued the verdicts as women, all accompanied by small children, attended the hearing. Ziyad Sabsabi, a Russian senator and Deputy Chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, had earlier warned that the Russian women would face death...

AFP |  Updated  April 25, 2018 Facebook Count Twitter Share     Press freedom around the world is under threat from a triple whammy of US President Donald Trump, Russia and China's bid to crush all dissent, a watchdog said on Wednesday. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned that a "climate of hatred and animosity" towards journalists combined with growing attempts to control the media pose a "threat to democracies". Its  annual report  said that reporters were the target of a growing wave of authoritarianism with leaders whipping up hostility against them. The group accused the world's three superpowers — the US, China and Russia — of leading the charge against press freedom, with Trump regularly launching personal attacks on reporters and Beijing exporting its "media control model" to strangle dissent elsewhere in Asia. The slide towards "strongman" and populist politics in Europe, stoked by Moscow, was threa...

President Assad has ruled Syria with an iron fist for nearly two decades. We take a look at his life and legacy. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad inherited power in July 2000, a month after his father, military strongman Hafez al-Assad died. But since March 2011, his rule over Syria has been under threat, with the country beset by violence that has killed an estimated 465,000 people and embroiled regional and world powers in the never-ending horror.  Despite Western and Arab countries backing the opposition, Assad has survived seven years of war and refuses to step aside. Bashar Al Asaad with Frist Lady Asmaa Al Assad Early Life And Eduction Ruling family:  Born on September 11, 1965, Bashar al-Assad is the second son of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, and his wife Anisa. His father, Hafez, rose to power through the Syrian military and the minority Alawite political party before taking contro...

Syrian allies Russia and Iran condemn the move while the EU, Turkey, and Qatar praise the action by the UK, US and France . The Damascus sky lights up with surface-to-air missile fire-courtesy Sky News Syria In a statement, Damascus branded the move illegal. Its foreign ministry said: "The Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the brutal American-British-French aggression against Syria, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law." Russia The Kremlin strongly denounced the missile strikes and said it was calling an emergency session of the UN Security Council. In a statement, it said: "Russia severely condemns the attack on Syria where Russian military are helping the lawful government in the fight with terrorism." A British Tornado GR4 jet taking off from Cyprus ahead of the strikes-Courtesy Sky News Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, branded Donald Trump, Theresa May and Emmanuel Macr...

Monitor Desk: The U.S. has blood and urine samples from the area the U.S. has blood and urine samples from the area that have tested positive for chemical weapons, according to two American officials.at have tested positive for chemical weapons, according to two American officials. Russia said Friday it had “irrefutable” evidence that the deadly Syria chemical weapons attack that has prompted the U.S. to consider airstrikes was fabricated. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference that there was a “very alarming atmosphere” over the issue and likened plans for a military response to failed action in Libya. “God forbid any other military gambles will be taken in Syria,” he said. Related Lavrov cited "irrefutable data that [this] was yet another staged event and staging was done … by the special services of one of the countries at the forefront of the anti-Russia campaign." His comments come after President Donald Trump called last Saturday’s attack...

Relations between Russia and the West are at a new low. But how should we describe the current situation? There's a lot of loose talk about a new "Cold War" - a comparison of present-day tensions to the bitter ideological and military rivalry that existed between the Soviet Union and the West from the 1950s to the end of the 1980s. But such comparisons may be misleading. "The Cold War," says Michael Kofman, a senior research scientist at the CNA Corporation and a fellow at the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, "was a competition resulting from a bipolar system, where two superpowers, both with economic and military advantages, were competing to shape international politics. "Their universalist ideologies made this competition inevitable, as did the distribution of power at the time." In contrast, he says, today's competition is not the result of a balance of power, or universalist ideology per se, but "conscious decisi...