diplomacy

Stories 181 - 200 | << Prev   Next >>

Historic Talks Bring China, Taiwan Closer Than Ever

First high-level talks since 1949 yield trade agreements amid opposition protests

(Newser) - The first high-level talks between China and Taiwan in 60 years have set aside politics in favor of building trade ties, Reuters reports. Negotiations in Taipei sidestepped the sovereignty question and yielded 13 agreements to triple the number of cross-strait flights, allow direct cargo shipments, improve food safety, and normalize...

US: Attack Was 'Warning' to Jihadist-Friendly Syria

Damascus closes American school, cultural center

(Newser) - The US says its attack Sunday on a Syrian village was a warning to Damascus to take more action against Iraq-bound militants. “We are left with no choice but to take matters into our own hands,” an official tells the Times of London. Washington recently praised Syria for...

Syria Formalizes Lebanon Ties
 Syria Formalizes Lebanon Ties 
Oct 14, 2008 3:12 PM CDT

Syria Formalizes Lebanon Ties

Damascus hopes symbolic gesture eases international pressure

(Newser) - Syria today established formal diplomatic relations with Lebanon for the first time since the nations won independence in the 1940s, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Bashir al-Assad’s regime sent its first-ever ambassador to Iraq yesterday, moves one expert says show Syria “wants to play ball with the world....

Bush Made Pact With This Man: Arab Sources
Bush Made Pact With This Man:  Arab Sources
ANALYSIS
Oct 7, 2008 2:31 PM CDT

Bush Made Pact With This Man: Arab Sources

Iranian collusion may be behind the success of the surge in Iraq

(Newser) - Secret cooperation between Iran and the Bush administration may be behind the success of the Iraq surge, which has played heavily in "John McCain’s rise from the ashes," writes Salameh Nematt in the Daily Beast. Arab intelligence sources say such a “Grand Bargain” has been reached...

Russia Will Absorb South Ossetia 'in Several Years'

'Separatist regimes ... cut off from reality,' Georgian official fires back

(Newser) - Russia intends to absorb Georgia’s breakaway province of South Ossetia “in several years” or perhaps sooner, the speaker of the region’s parliament tells AP. In meetings this week in Moscow between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and South Ossetian leader, Eduard Kokoity, the intent was “firmly stated...

Promising to Leave, Russia Amps Up Forces in Georgia

NATO divided on response to Moscow

(Newser) - Despite promises from the Kremlin and ultimatums from the American and French presidents, Russia is stalling on its promise to withdraw from Georgia, reports the Guardian. The Russian military has moved ballistic missile launchers into South Ossetia, and its troops remain entrenched near Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. But ahead of...

Rice Arrives in Georgia
 Rice Arrives in Georgia
Aug 15, 2008 7:31 AM CDT

Rice Arrives in Georgia

American, European diplomats push to get Russian troops out

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice arrived in Tbilisi today, where she said her immediate goal was to get Russian troops out of Georgia. The secretary of state stopped over in France to meet with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president who brokered a ceasefire that Moscow has flouted. Rice's trip follows an American airlift...

Peace Deal Opened Door to Russian Advance
Peace Deal Opened Door
to Russian Advance
ANALYSIS
Aug 14, 2008 4:22 AM CDT

Peace Deal Opened Door to Russian Advance

Russian 'peacekeepers' given wide latitude in new pact

(Newser) - A Russian convoy was headed deeper into Georgia within hours of a new peace deal thanks to a big loophole in the agreement, Andrew E. Kramer writes in the New York Times. The deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy allows Russian peacekeepers to implement unspecified "additional security measures,...

Obama Hits Paris
 Obama Hits Paris
Jul 25, 2008 5:47 AM CDT

Obama Hits Paris

Candidate holds meeting, press conference with 'pal' Sarkozy

(Newser) - Barack Obama has arrived in Paris, where the candidate is holding talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy before a joint news conference. Sarkozy rushed back from a summit in the southwest of France to meet Obama at the presidential palace, reports AP. The two first met in 2006 when Sarkozy...

Obama Relying on Own Mini State Dept.

Candidate draws on expertise of 300 policy advisers

(Newser) - As Barack Obama makes his first overseas visit as the presumptive Democratic nominee, the New York Times spotlights the 300-strong army of foreign policy advisers that keep the candidate abreast of world affairs. Obama's operation is run like a mini-State Department, the Times notes, with senior aides taking responsibility for...

US Closer to Establishing Diplomatic Outpost in Iran

Interest section, to be announced next month, first presence since 1979

(Newser) - The Bush administration is moving forward with plans to establish a US interest section—precursor to a formal embassy—in Iran, the Guardian reports. An announcement will come in the next month about the office, which will put US diplomats in Iran for the first time since the hostage crisis...

Old World Thinks He's the Messiah
Old World
Thinks He's
the Messiah 
OPINION
Jul 11, 2008 7:39 AM CDT

Old World Thinks He's the Messiah

Looking for deliverance from Bush, Europeans could face rude shock

(Newser) - Barack Obama's trip to Europe this month might not do much for his electoral chances at home. But the Old World doesn't care, writes Financial Times columnist Philip Stephens; when the candidate arrives he "can expect to be greeted as a messiah." Europeans have been starstruck by Obama,...

Quiet Qatar Plays Key Mideast Peacemaker Role

Iconoclastic emirate works to calm conflicts

(Newser) - Qatar has managed the amazing diplomatic feat of staying friendly with just about everybody in the Middle East, the New York Times writes. The tiny, oil-rich emirate, which somehow maintains close ties with Iran while also hosting an American airbase, is rapidly becoming the region's mediator. Its diplomats recently pulled...

Mugabe Faces Chilly Reception at African Summit

Zimbabwe prez faces pressure to negotiate

(Newser) - Newly reinaugurated  Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe arrived today at an African Union summit where he is expected to face pressure to negotiate with the country's opposition. Although Mugabe walked into the conference at an Egyptian resort alongside other leaders, he has faced unprecedented criticism from African governments to yield to...

Softer Bush: Saving Legacy or Showing Wisdom?
Softer Bush: Saving Legacy or Showing  Wisdom? 
analysis
Jun 27, 2008 8:26 AM CDT

Softer Bush: Saving Legacy or Showing Wisdom?

North Korea shows administration's willing to compromise

(Newser) - North Korea's nuclear declaration is a diplomatic milestone for a Bush administration showing a more pragmatic side on a host of issues in the home stretch, writes Steven Lee Myers in the New York Times. The conciliatory approach has extended to other issues, including reducing emissions, Israel-Palestinian peace, and Iran's...

Rice: Diplomacy Key in Progress on North Korea
Rice: Diplomacy Key in Progress on North Korea
OPINION
Jun 26, 2008 10:44 AM CDT

Rice: Diplomacy Key in Progress on North Korea

Secretary sees 6-nation framework as only certain end to nukes

(Newser) - Diplomacy is working with North Korea, and the US has made few concessions to bring the rogue state closer to eliminating its nuclear ambitions, Condoleezza Rice writes in today’s Wall Street Journal. "We and the other four parties will expect North Korea to cooperate with us in verifying...

For Beleaguered W. and Gordo, a Merry Old Time
For Beleaguered W. and Gordo, a Merry Old Time
OPINION
Jun 18, 2008 9:00 AM CDT

For Beleaguered W. and Gordo, a Merry Old Time

Dowd wonders why Bush was so giddy on his farewell tour?

(Newser) - George W. Bush was in "one of his oddly chipper moods" during his awkward final trip to London, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd observes—but why? Perhaps, she opines half facetiously, "W. simply feels more at home in a monarchy" after years spent confessing to "Torquemada...

China,Taiwan Agree on Cross-Strait Flights

First talks in almost ten years reflect rapidly warming relations

(Newser) - The first talks between China and Taiwan in almost a decade have yielded a historic travel agreement, reports Reuters. Regular flights between the two will begin next month for the first time since the Communists won China's civil war in 1949. Relations between the rivals—still officially at war—have...

Bush Says Bye, Europe Says Good Riddance
Bush Says Bye, Europe Says Good Riddance
OPINION
Jun 12, 2008 11:16 AM CDT

Bush Says Bye, Europe Says Good Riddance

Next president must restore ties with Old World, writes Cohen

(Newser) - Earlier visits by George W. Bush to Europe have been greeted by massive protests, but the president's valedictory tour of the Old World barely inspired a shrug. "Bush-bashing has become a bore," writes Roger Cohen in his New York Times column. That doesn't mean he's any better liked,...

Dictator Cat Remains Out of the Bag
Dictator Cat Remains Out
of the Bag
OPINION
May 23, 2008 1:51 PM CDT

Dictator Cat Remains Out of the Bag

Spur-of-the-moment 'absurdity' burdens Obama's candidacy

(Newser) - Barack Obama was speaking off the cuff last summer when he deemed President Bush’s refusal to meet with dictators “a disgrace,” but “what started as a gaffe became policy,” Charles Krauthammer writes in the Washington Post. "By now, it has become doctrine." And...

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