Libyan PM accuses France of backing ‘dictator’ Haftar
AFP, Paris
Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the internationally-recognised government in Tripoli, angrily denounced France Wednesday for supporting rival Khalifa Haftar, underlining the growing diplomatic tensions over fighting there.
Speaking to French dailies Liberation and Le Monde, Sarraj denounced Paris for backing a “dictator” in his harshest criticism yet of French diplomacy.
Top Kim adviser removed from post
AP, South Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s most trusted policy adviser apparently has been removed from one of his posts, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday, a possible personnel reshuffle in the wake of the breakdown of the North Korea-U.S. summit in February.
The head of the South Korean parliament’s intelligence committee, Lee Hye-hoon, cited South Korea’s main spy agency as saying that Kim Yong Chol lost his Workers’ Party post in charge of relations with South Korea earlier this month.
Five challenges for Ukraine’s new president
Reuters, London
Ukraine has entered uncharted political waters by choosing Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian with no previous political experience and few detailed policies, as its new president.
Zelenskiy is the latest anti-establishment figure to unseat an incumbent leader, both in Europe and further afield, but he has a lot to get to grips with. Below are five big questions investors and the international community have.
Xi urges closer naval ties amid regional tensions
AP, Qingdao
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged closer ties between the world’s navies on Tuesday, amid tensions over China’s rapid expansion of its naval forces and forceful assertions of territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Xi’s remarks came in an address to foreign naval officers attending a fleet review marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, an event Beijing is using to showcase its growing ability to exert force far from its shores.
