Macron to host Putin ahead of G7 summit
AFP, Bormes-Les-Mimosas
French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed Saturday he had invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for talks on August 19, days before hosting a G7 summit.
Macron said the meeting with Putin would take place at his summer retreat, the medieval fort of Bregancon near the village of Bormes-les-Mimosas on France’s Mediterranean coast.
North Korea releases Russian fishing boat
AFP, Seoul
North Korea has released a Russian fishing boat with a crew of 15 Russians and two South Koreans after it was detained for violating entry regulations, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said Sunday.
The release comes nearly two weeks after North Korean border guards took control of the ship belonging to the Russian North-Eastern Fishing Company on July 17.
Five doctors killed in Libya air raid
AFP, Tripoli
Five doctors were killed in an air strike by forces of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar on a field hospital near the capital, the health ministry of the UN-recognised government said. Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army launched an offensive in April to try to wrest Tripoli from forces of the Government of National Accord which is based in the capital.
Pro-GNA forces have weathered the initial onslaught and since then fighting has remained deadlocked on the outskirts of the city, with both sides resorting to air strikes.
Iran to meet nuclear deal members
AFP, Vienna
The remaining signatories to the Iran nuclear deal will meet in Vienna on Sunday to try again to find a way of saving the accord after the US pulled out, amid mounting tensions between Tehran and Washington.
Envoys from Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran will take part in the meeting which comes a month after a similar gathering failed to achieve a breakthrough. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated since last year when US President Donald Trump pulled out of the accord that was aimed at curbing.
