Former Colorado governor announces WH bid
AFP, Washington
Former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on Monday, the second governor and 14th candidate to join the field seeking to take on Republican Donald Trump in 2020.
In a video announcing his candidacy, the 67-year-old Hickenlooper said he is seeking the White House “because we’re facing a crisis that threatens everything we stand for.”
Volvo unveils
driverless electric bus in S’pore
AFP, Singapore
Volvo and a Singapore university unveiled a driverless electric bus Tuesday that will soon undergo tests in the city-state, the latest move towards rolling out autonomous vehicles for public transport.
High-tech Singapore has become a testbed for self-driving technology and the world’s first driverless taxis went into operation in a limited public trial in the country in 2016. Swedish automaker Volvo Buses and its local partner Nanyang Technological University (NTU) unveiled what they described as a full-size autonomous electric bus and said the vehicle would soon start trial runs in the university’s sprawling campus.
Kim arrives home after Trump summit
AFP, Seoul
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un arrived home on Tuesday, state media said, completing his marathon journey through China after his Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump ended without a nuclear deal. Kim’s return to Pyongyang marked the end of an epic 4,000-kilometre (2,500-mile) journey – on board his olive green armoured train – from Vietnam, where his much-hyped second summit with Trump came to an abrupt halt last week.
Syrian Army attacks IS
targets in desert
Reuters, Beirut
The Syrian military has mounted air strikes against Islamic State militants and clashed with the jihadists in central Syria, the pro-Damascus al-Watan newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The flare-up in the area of al-Sukhna, between Palymra and Deir al-Zor, on Monday points to the foothold the ultra hardline Islamist group still has west of the Euphrates even as U.S.-backed fighters are poised to seize its last enclave east of the river.
Iran reveals FM wanted to resign over Assad visit
AP, Tehran
Iran says its foreign minister wanted to resign last month after being kept in the dark about a surprise visit by Syrian President Bashar Assad to Tehran.
President Hassan Rouhani ultimately rejected Mohammad Javad Zarif’s resignation, throwing his full support behind the diplomat who negotiated the country’s nuclear deal with world powers. Zarif later returned to his job. Both men face growing pressure from Iranian hard-liners as the nuclear accord unravels under American pressure.
