Even as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to signal a softening of the US stance towards North Korea during today’s UN Security Council session, he came slap up against the reality of China’s refusal to pull the coals out of the fire for the US on the North Korean issue.
Russia’s President Putin has met in the Oval Hall of the Kremlin with Li Zhanshu, Director of the General Office of the Communist Party of China, and chief of staff of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The meeting was held directly after Li Zhanshu held talks with his Russian counterpart Anton Vaino, who is the head of the Russian President’s Executive Office and who is President Putin’s chief of staff.
Following weeks of threats and bombast, with wild talk of the US fleet closing in on North Korea, of the US taking ‘unilateral action’ to stop North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes, and after the entire US Senate was called for a briefing in the White House – which in the event produced precisely nothing and which lasted all of 14 minutes – the US today after the briefing announced a policy of more of the same: of trying to stop the North Korean nuclear weapons program
A report in the Russian newspaper Izvestia sourced from the Russian Foreign Ministry says that in response to US pleas Russia has quietly switched back on the hotline between the Russian and US militaries in Syria.
As the Carl Vinson carrier group resumes its zigzag journey towards North Korea, comes news of a telephone call yesterday by Chinese President Xi Jinping to US President Donald Trump. Importantly it seems it was President Xi who initiated the call as he set out to President Trump China’s position on the North Korean issue.
The People’s Daily – the official newspaper of China’s Communist Party – has provided a summary of the call
Initial projections, which are usually very reliable in France, make Emmanuel Macron the front-runner in the first round of the French Presidential election with 23.7% of the vote.
Marine Le Pen came second with 21.7% of the vote.
The other two leading candidates, Francois Fillon and Jean-Luc Melenchon, appear to have come almost equal third, with about 20% of the vote each.
In an apparent terrorist attack, a gunman on the historic Champs-Elysées avenue in the center of Paris has opened fire at police officers, killing 1 and wounding 2 others.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack.
France 24 reported that the home of the dead suspect was being searched. Champs-Elysées had been closed down after the attack.
Further details:
The Russian government – undoubtedly after detailed consultations with China – has now issued a series of warnings to the US against any attacks on North Korea.
The warnings have come in statements by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and by President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
In relation to the possibility of US military strikes on North Korea, Lavrov pointedly said that these would be both destabilising and contrary to international law
The huge international attention devoted to the US missile strike on Syria’s Al-Shayrat air base has drawn attention away from the continuing progress of the Syrian army in the war in Syria.
With almost 50% of the votes counted, reports from the Anadolu news agency suggest that President Erdogan is looking to win the referendum on enhancing his constitutional powers by a margin of 58%-42%.
The regional breakdown of the votes corresponds with the political divisions of Turkey. The traditionally more liberal regions along the Mediterranean coast and the Kurdish area in Turkey’s south east is voting no. Turkey’s Anatolian heartland and Istanbul are voting overwhelmingly yes.
