AFP, Kuwait City
The UN envoy said Wednesday that Yemen’s warring parties were closer to agreement at peace talks in Kuwait as he headed to New York to brief the Security Council.
“We are moving towards a general understanding that encompasses the expectations and visions of the parties,” Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.
Canada PM’s popularity soars
AFP, Ottawa
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s popularity has reached a new high, even after his arguably worst day in office that saw him recently jostle fellow lawmakers, a poll found on Tuesday.
“Trudeau has now hit a new personal best,” polling firm Nanos said in a statement.
US respects Pakistan’s sovereignty
Dawn.Com, Washington
The United States has assured Pakistan that it respects the country’s territorial integrity and while doing so also avoided identifying the area where a US drone killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour.
“This was a strike directed against this individual, Mansour, in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. We certainly do respect Pakistan’s territorial integrity,” a US State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, told a briefing in Washington.
One-fifth of UK couples close to break-up
BBC Online
Almost one in five (18%) couples in the UK argue regularly or consider separating, a study suggests.
The report, carried out by charity Relate and based on a survey of 20,980 people in relationships from 2013-15, suggested 2.87 million people were in “distressed” relationships.
World leaders gather in Japan ahead of G7
AFP, Ise Shima
US President Barack Obama arrived in Japan on Wednesday for a Group of Seven summit, kicking off a historic visit that will also take him to the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima.
Obama was joining other leaders from the club of rich democracies for a gathering set to be dominated by the lacklustre state of the global economy.
10 killed in Kabul suicide bombing
AP, Kabul
An Afghan official says a suicide bomber struck a vehicle carrying court employees in Kabul, killing 10 people.
Najib Danish, the Interior Ministry’s deputy spokesman, said the bomber, who was on foot, detonated his explosives vest as he walked by the vehicle in the Afghan capital on Wednesday.
Taiwan not resuming trade talks with China
Reuters, Taipei
Taiwan’s new government has no schedule for re-starting trade talks with China, Economics Minister Lee Chih-kung said on Wednesday, adding that the pro-independence ruling party first wanted to pass a law governing oversight of negotiations with Beijing.
Beijing has already condemned the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) proposed “supervisory law”, and critics in Taiwan say it could paralyze relations with China.
