Section: South Africa
Putin has ‘good relations’ with France’s Fillon: Kremlin
The Kremlin said Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin enjoys good relations with Francois Fillon, the surprise winner of the first round of France’s rightwing presidential primary. “They established relations when Putin was still head of government, they had quite extensive exchanges,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “They...
Merkel: from austerity queen to democratic torch-bearer
A Protestant pastor’s daughter who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, Angela Merkel rose to become the “chancellor of Europe” who has outlasted a generation of world leaders. Unlike her one-time partners on the global stage, George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Silvio Berlusconi, Merkel is still in power and running for another...
Cold shoulder for ICC as it guns for big fish
Putin’s regime claims that Crimea voluntarily joined Russia after a referendum and said the ICC had proved itself to be “one-sided and inefficient”. …read more Source: Mail &...
Obama to pass torch to Merkel on farewell visit
US President Barack Obama pays a farewell visit Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, widely seen as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama will underline shared values, try to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic...
Sources: European leaders and Obama to discuss Russia sanctions in Berlin
A German official said the plan was to agree a rollover of EU sanctions against Russia, which are due to expire at the end of January. …read more Source: Eyewitness...
Russia withdrawing from International Criminal Court treaty
President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order on Wednesday withdrawing Russia’s signature from the International Criminal Court’s founding treaty, whose pronouncements Moscow has derided as one-sided. The order, which took immediate effect, said Russia would not ratify the ICC’s founding treaty, something it signed in 2000....
Merkel to be the new ‘leader of the free world’?
The shock election of Donald Trump as US president has forced greater responsibility for defending Western values and interests onto German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s shoulders, analysts say, with some even crowning her the new “leader of the free world”. While the last decade has been defined by Britain, France, Germany and the US showing...
Poroshenko appeals to Trump for support in phone call
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko asked Donald Trump for support against “Russian aggression” during a congratulatory telephone conversation with the US president-elect on Tuesday. Trump’s shock election victory has been met with trepidation in Kiev because of the outspoken reality TV star’s praise of Russian President Vladimir...
Poroshenko appeals to Trump for support in phone call
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko asked Donald Trump for support against “Russian aggression” during a congratulatory telephone conversation with the US president-elect on Tuesday. Trump’s shock election victory has been met with trepidation in Kiev because of the outspoken reality TV star’s praise of Russian President Vladimir...
EU’s Juncker worried by Trump after ‘disgusting’ campaign
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday he was worried about Donald Trump’s approach to EU-US ties given what the president-elect said during a “disgusting” election campaign. “It worries me in as much as I have difficulty imagining — or perhaps I should imagine — that the new president-elect of the United States will put...
