Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
US national security adviser John Bolton warns US may ramp up sanctions if nuclear weapons program is not scrapped
North Korea has begun rebuilding a rocket launch site that had been partially dismantled as a goodwill gesture after the first summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in June last year.
Satellite images show the reconstruction work was carried out shortly before their failed second summit in Hanoi last week, and their publication on Tuesday evening contributed to fears that the peace effort was in jeopardy.
Chris Grayling | Otto Warmbier | Michele Hanson | Words for toilet | A Beatles Brexit
The likely cost of £2.7bn to the taxpayer due to Chris Grayling’s incompetence will ring hollow to the parents of disabled pupils in Leicestershire and across the country, who have been informed that their council can no longer provide transport to special schools and colleges post-16 due to lack of funds. The implications for these families, who already face substantial additional burdens of care due to cuts in respite and other services, may place another group in the foodbank queue. Kate Warner Claybrooke Parva, Leicestershire
• If Donald Trump genuinely believes that Kim Jong-un did not know of the brutal treatment of Otto Warmbier which led to his death (Report, 2 March), has he asked Kim to investigate the matter? And if not, why not? Jeremy Beecham Labour, House of Lords
We now know where North Korea and US stand – and the gaps that still need to be closed
The Hanoi summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un may have broken down abruptly and stalled negotiations for the time being, but it has opened a window into the talks that leaves some hope that a compromise can be reached.
The summit between the US president, Donald Trump, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in the Vietnamese capital ended abruptly after both men failed to break the deadlock over US sanctions despite their much-vaunted personal relationship
The US president boasts of being a deal maker. But his summit with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi has ended in failure and recrimination
Only a year ago, many feared that Donald Trump’s dealings with Kim Jong-un might end with a bang. Then came the Singapore summit. Mr Trump boasted that they “fell in love” and that North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat. The bromance did not look sustainable. Now a follow-up in Hanoi has ended in a whimper, collapsing without the heralded signing of at least a limited deal.
North Korea needs an easing of sanctions and wants to pursue economic development; Mr Trump wants a diplomatic triumph with his name emblazoned on it. But these powerful drivers are not enough to bridge the gulf between the sides. While North Korea speaks of denuclearisation on the peninsula, it has no intention of unilateral disarmament – as US intelligence officials note. Gestures such as halting missile tests have some value, in real terms as well as in building the relationship, and disabling the Yongbyon nuclear plant would have more; the question is how much they are worth. Many had feared Mr Trump might pay too highly, as he did in Singapore.
North Korean despot and US president’s wildly different perceptions exposed in Hanoi
As with many disastrous second dates, the collapse of Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong-un was made inevitable by the misreading of each other’s intentions at their first encounter.
Since their initial meeting in Singapore last June, the US president had become fixated on what he saw as a close personal bond with the North Korean dictator half his age. He told his supporters: “We fell in love ... He wrote me beautiful letters.”
The US president says he takes the North Korean leader's word that he knew nothing about the torture of the college student Otto Warmbier, who died six days after being returned to the US in a state of 'unresponsive wakefulness’.
President says he believes North Korean leader knew nothing about treatment of US student
Donald Trump has said he took Kim Jong-un “at his word” when he denied any responsibility in the imprisonment and torture of Otto Warmbier that led to the US student’s death in 2017.
“Some really bad things happened to Otto,” Trump said. “But Kim tells me that he didn’t know about it and I will take him at his word.”
The US president, Donald Trump, says it is not a good time to strike a denuclearisation deal after talks with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, break down in Vietnam
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un answers – for what is believed to be the first time – a question from a foreign journalist. Asked if he was positive about reaching a deal with US president Donald Trump over nuclear disarmament, Kim said it was too early to tell whether a deal could be reached. However, he said he had a 'feeling that good results would come out' of the talks and that he was not pessimistic. Trump then asks a nearby photographer to make sure he sends his pictures to Kim
A reminder of the other Trump news story going around at the moment – and the one we suspect the president would much rather we not be talking about – the explosive allegations from Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen.
Sen. Lindsey Graham tells @sunlenserfaty he spoke to President Trump last night. “I think he was upset he was gonna have dueling shows here," Graham said. "That it did bother him there's going to be a split screen between Michael Cohen and Kim Jong Un."
Donald Trump vowed that his second meeting with Kim Jong-un would be at least the equal of the first and his Vietnamese hosts tried their utmost to make that happen.
In Hanoi on Wednesday evening, every effort was made in recreating the circumstances and ambience of Singapore, scene last June of the historic first meeting between an incumbent US president and a North Korea leader.
Hanoi was buzzing as it prepared for the meeting between the US president and the North Korean leader, with a heavy security presence amid fanfare and flags
The leaders of the US and North Korea meet in Hanoi, Vietnam, at the start of the second nuclear summit. The pair, who looked pleased to see each other as they shook hands, were to hold a brief discussion on Wednesday before full meetings on Thursday
Trump has now tweeted to deny media reports that, going in to the summit, his negotiating position is less than strong and he is preparing to make concessions to North Korea in exchange for only vague promises of nuclear disarmament
All false reporting (guessing) on my intentions with respect to North Korea. Kim Jong Un and I will try very hard to work something out on Denuclearization & then making North Korea an Economic Powerhouse. I believe that China, Russia, Japan & South Korea will be very helpful!
And here it is: Trump has dived into the Cohen allegations on twitter, accusing his former lawyer of lying and fraud (and also referring to himself in the third person)
Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time. Using Crooked’s lawyer!
From the easing of sanctions to denuclearisation and ending the Korean war, there’s a lot to play for in Hanoi
Donald Trump has said that when he meets Kim Jong-un in Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel on Wednesday evening, the potential for a deal is “awesome”.
Few would argue with that. A move to limit the North Korean arsenal and begin to re-integrate the country back into the international community, would be a significant step away from the brink of nuclear war.
Attorneys and political commentators are alerting a sitting US congressman to the US law on “witness tampering” after the representative in question, Matt Gaetz, appeared to threaten Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who testified before Congress today.
Gaetz, who is from Florida, said:
Hey @MichaelCohen212 - Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot...
This should not be legal. Intimidating a witness before Congress should be against the law. https://t.co/uVBZR3NzXf
Who wants to tell @mattgaetz that sitting members of Congress aren’t immune from indictment?
Me: Any response to those who say you’re witness tampering? @mattgaetz: I’m witness testing. We still are allowed to test the veracity and character of witnesses, I think.
Me: So you disagree with those who say you’re witness tampering?
Top strategists from Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign announced they would not be sticking with the Vermont senator for his 2020 campaign.
The New York Times said the departure of the three men, who produced Sanders’ 2020 announcement video last week, was “abrupt.”
Their departure could be indicative of Sanders’ desire to get serious about making changes to his team of strategists in an effort to make a deep run in a wide open Democratic primary field.
The North Korean leader has been filmed taking a pre-dawn smoke break while a woman who appears to be his sister holds a crystal ashtray for him. The footage was captured at Nanning railway station in China, hours before Kim's arrival in Vietnam for a summit with the US president, Donald Trump
North Korea’s leader has finally arrived in Hanoi after boarding a train on Saturday, travelling through China and then transferring to a Mercedes at the Vietnam border for the final 170km of the journey
North Korean leader to meet US president on Wednesday for dinner after three-day overland trip
Kim Jong-un has arrived in Hanoi, after transferring from train to car for the final leg of his overland trip to Vietnam where the North Korean leader is scheduled to have a private dinner and meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Kim will meet the US president for a brief one-on-one conversation, followed by a social dinner, at which they will each be accompanied by two guests and interpreters, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.