US Calls on North Korea to Engage Diplomatically
Voice of America
04 May 2021, 06:05 GMT+10
The United States said it is ready to engage diplomatically with Pyongyang to achieve the ultimate goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, following the completion of a months-long U.S. policy review on North Korea. What we have now is a policy that calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with North Korea, to try to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies and our deployed forces, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday during a virtual joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in London.
Britain this week hosts the first face-to-face meeting of G7 foreign ministers in two years, joined by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as world powers tackle pandemic recovery plus growing tensions with Russia and China.
The Covid-secure gathering in London will prepare the ground for a G7 summit in southwest England next month, which will mark Joe Biden’s inaugural visit to Europe as US president. The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the EU. Russia was evicted from G8 after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Touched down in London and glad to be welcomed by @USAinUK. It was eight years ago that the UK, our indispensable Ally, last hosted the @G7 presidency. It’s good to be back among partners and allies for these discussions. pic.twitter.com/q1afyAxXNI
Pentagon Says Harassing Attacks Not Impeding Afghan Operations
May 03, 2021
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Amid heightened violence and stalled peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, the U.S. military says small harassing attacks have not significantly affected the early days of international forces official withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The official U.S. and NATO pullout begun on May 1, leaving the war-torn country to an uncertain future, is expected to culminate in the last of up to 3,500 U.S. and 7,000 alliance troops departing by September 11. What we ve seen are some small harassing attacks over the course of the weekend that have not had any significant impact, certainly not on our people or our resources there and bases, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on May 3.
COVID-19: England may scrap social distancing next month – Boris Johnson
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British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson
England could see its one metre social distancing rule scrapped from next month, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.
He was visiting a northern England town ahead of a by-election on Thursday when he was asked about how well the nation was doing at combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) since restrictions were loosened on April 12.
He told reporters that Britain had just given 50 million coronavirus jabs to people living in the four nations and said it was likely England would be able to further loosen restrictions in the weeks ahead.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington wants a stable relationship with Moscow but that will depend on Kremlin policies and how aggressively it decides to act.