Italian President Sergio Mattarella has asked an ex-IMF economist to form a government as the country faces fresh political turmoil. Carlo Cottarelli became known as “Mr Scissors” for his cuts to public spending in Italy. His appointment came after efforts by Italy’s two populist parties to form a coalition government collapsed. But the move is […]

Following Switzerland, the Syrian Arab Republic is the next in line for the alphabetically rotated presidency. The Syrian regime has begun its four-week presidency of the UN Conference on Disarmament – an appointment described as “one of the darkest days in the history” of the panel. Bashar al Assad’s government will preside over the forum […]

It is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s “fixed will” that a summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore should go ahead, state media say. This followed a surprise meeting on Saturday between Mr Kim and the South’s Moon Jae-in, who said the North was “committed to denuclearisation”. Mr Trump had cancelled the 12 June […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that investigations swirling around President Trump are interfering with improved relations with Moscow, noting he has had little contact with the U.S. president. “We are hostages to this internal strife in the United States,” Putin said at an economic forum in St. Petersburg. “I hope that it will end some […]

The leaders of North and South Korea have met in the demilitarised border area between the two countries. The meeting is only the second between South Korea’s Moon Jae-in and the North’s Kim Jong-un. It comes as the two sides continue efforts to put a historic US-North Korea summit back on track. US President Donald […]

US President Donald Trump has said his summit with North Korea’s leader could still happen on 12 June, despite earlier cancelling the meeting. “We’ll see what happens. It could even be the 12th. We’re talking to them now. They very much want to do it, we’d like to do it,” he told reporters. On Thursday, […]

KUBEKHAZA, Hungary — As mayor of this Hungarian village where tens of thousands of migrants recently marched toward northern Europe, Robert Molnar has some sympathy for his country’s decision to build a fence on the border with Serbia. But Molnar has a message for Americans: Don’t let President Trump build his wall with Mexico. “We have a serious […]

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 (£300,000) to fix talks between the Ukrainian president and President Trump, according to sources in Kiev close to those involved. The payment was arranged by intermediaries acting for Ukraine’s leader, Petro Poroshenko, the sources said, though Mr Cohen was not registered […]

Iran’s Supreme Leader on Wednesday launched a fresh broadside at Washington’s rejection of a nuclear accord with Tehran, saying the U.S. pullout showed the Islamic Republic could not deal with a country that did not abide by its commitments. In his first public remarks since U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded Iran make sweeping […]

US President Donald Trump has said there is a “very substantial chance” a historic summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un next month may not happen. He said the North must meet conditions for the summit to go ahead though if it did not, it might happen “later”. He was speaking as he received South Korea’s […]