Little is known on status of US student held in North Korea

In this March 16, 2016, file photo, American student Otto Warmbier, center, is escorted at the Supreme Court in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea announced Warmbier’s detention Jan. 22, 2016, and the University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati was sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years in prison at hard labor after a televised confession that he tried to steal a propaganda banner.

Israel pushes ahead with settlements as Trump takes office

The municipality of Jerusalem granted final approval Sunday for the construction of hundreds of new homes in east Jerusalem, while a hard-line Cabinet minister pushed the government to annex a major West Bank settlement as emboldened Israeli nationalists welcomed the presidency of Donald Trump. After eight years of testy ties with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is looking forward to a new era of close relations with the U.S. under Trump.

US could have a surprise deal with NK’

US President Donald Trump could strike a surprise deal with North Korea over its nuclear program, while adopting a more hawkish policy toward China, Pyongyang’s main ally, said Park Hwee-rhak, the dean of the graduate school of politics and leadership at Kookmin University. The most concerning situation, he said, is that Washington might acknowledge Pyongyang’s current nuclear capability in exchange for getting the reclusive regime to agree to stop building nukes capable of hitting the US continent.

Trump presidency boosts European right-wingers

Right-wing leaders from across the region meeting in Germany see new US administration as dawn of a new era European nationalist leaders came together on Saturday in a show of strength at the start of a year of big election tests, celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president and declaring themselves a realistic alternative to the continent’s governments. Right-wing populist leaders from France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and elsewhere strode confidently into the Koblenz congress hall on the banks of the Rhine River ahead of a flag-waving escort, setting the tone for a gathering whose mood was buoyed by Trump’s swearing-in.

Crossing red lines: What’s annoying Asian nations most?

In this Nov. 10, 2016, file photo, a TV screen shows images of then U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea takes offense first, and most regularly, with Japan, largely over disputes stemming from Tokyo’s 35-year colonization of the Korean Peninsula in the early 20th century.

Arab world reacts to Trump inauguration

The Arab world is still trying to acclimate to the fact that Donald Trump has taken the oath of office to become the 45th President of the United States, especially after President Trump promised to “wipe out Islamic terror” in his inaugural address. Although there have been many letters of support and congratulations sent to the new president, not everyone in the Arab world is so pleased.

Fact Check: Trump’s address echoed familiar, dubious themes

President Donald Trump pumps his first at the end of his speech after bring sworn in as the 45th president of the United States during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. less President Donald Trump pumps his first at the end of his speech after bring sworn in as the 45th president of the United States during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, … more WASHINGTON – Donald Trump ‘s inaugural address held familiar echoes of the campaign speeches that led to his presidential win: downbeat about the state of the nation, to the point of hyperbole.

Cypriot activists march against Trump’s policies

Local activist groups staged a protest on Friday outside the American Embassy in Nicosia, against policies that threaten human rights and diversity in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidency. The demonstration was carried out in solidarity with other women’s marches in the US and around the world, protesting policies that Trump said he would follow as President, such as building a wall to keep migrants from Mexico away.

Trump brings Churchill bust back to Oval Office

President Donald Trump restored the bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval Office immediately after assuming the presidency on Friday, the most notable move in an aesthetic redecoration of the space. Trump signed his first executive orders at the Resolute Desk before new gold curtains with a blue trim, a new sunburst-patterned carpet and new brocade couches.

New White House website strikes a different tone

Just moments after President Donald Trump took the oath of office Friday, the official White House website was transformed into a set of policy pledges that offered the broad contours of the Trump administration’s top priorities — a list that included fierce support for law enforcement bordering on vigilantism, an immediate elimination of the White House’s policy page on climate page and a notable absence of any directives involving President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. “Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter, or the violent disrupter,” reads the law and order section, which calls for “more law enforcement” and “more effective policing.”

The Latest: Trumps step out of cars twice on parade route

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump twice got out of their vehicles to walk and wave to the crowd during their escorted trip from the Capitol to the White House. They first walked for about a block before reaching the Trump International Hotel, where the crowds on both sides of the street were at their loudest.

After Trump pledges ‘America First,’ the world responds with…

If the credo of the new U.S. president is “America First,” as Donald Trump emphatically declared Friday in his strikingly nationalistic inaugural address, then where does that leave the rest of the world? That’s what people around the globe – from Asia to the Middle East to Latin America – were left to wonder after watching Trump use the opening minutes of his presidency to double down on campaign pledges to end what he sees as misguided efforts to help other countries at the expense of U.S. interests. After more than 70 years of vigorous political, diplomatic, economic and military engagement to promote pax-Americana, Trump’s words suggested to international observers a far more isolationist and protectionist path ahead.

a Ia ve seen rain:a James Taylor bemoans end of Obama era

President Barack Obama sings “Jingle Bells” with James Taylor and others during the lighting ceremony for the 2016 National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington. Taylor, on vacation in French Polynesia, posted a video online Friday bemoaning the end of the Obama era, saying, “Hi, it’s James on the last day of the Obama administration, and it feels like it’s raining all over the world.” BOSTON >> Half a world away from Washington, James Taylor is greeting fans with a video bemoaning the end of the Obama era.

Jerusalem mayor praises ‘friend’ Trump and slams Obama

Nothing will rain on our parade! Triumphant Donald Trump promises a beautiful day as he tells his supporters: ‘I’m going to be cheering YOU’ Trump lays wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in somber Arlington Cemetery ceremony just one day before he becomes commander-in-chief Jerusalem mayor praises ‘friend’ Trump and slams Obama for ‘surrendering’ to radical Islam in video welcoming The Donald as President The mayor of Jerusalem has praised Donald Trump as a ‘friend’ while slamming outgoing U.S. president Barack Obama accusing him of ‘surrendering’ to radical Islam. Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat released a video on Thursday ahead of Trump’s inauguration urging people to welcome him when he is sworn in as president.

‘A win for the good guys’: Mexican drug lord extradited to U.S.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Mexico’s most notorious cartel kingpin who twice made brazen prison escapes and spent years on the run as the country’s most wanted man, was extradited to the U.S. on Thursday to face drug trafficking and other charges. Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department announced Guzman was handed over to U.S. authorities for transportation to the U.S. on Thursday, the last full day of President Barack Obama’s administration and a day before Donald Trump is to be inaugurated.

With Little Room to Maneuver, Syria’s Rebels Head for Talks

Syrian rebels are sending more than a dozen representatives next week to the capital of Kazakhstan for talks with government representatives, the first such negotiations between the two sides in a year. But the loss of Aleppo, the election of Donald Trump and the pivot of Turkey toward Russia has left the opposition with very little room to maneuver.

Mideast expects big changes under Trump

Donald Trump’s all-but-dismissal of human rights as a foreign policy principle could land like an earthquake across a Middle East landscape beset by warring factions and beleaguered governments, with some players eyeing the prospect of once unimaginable new alliances. Syria is the foremost test of Trump’s promise of a return to a hard-headed realpolitik and could quickly show whether America is truly abandoning promotion of democracy and the rule of law in a way that could reshape much of the region’s post-Cold War, post-9/11 order.

Key players in Iran nuke deal aim message at Trump: It works

The United Nations, the European Union and key players in the Iran nuclear agreement delivered a united message Wednesday aimed at U.S. President-elect Donald Trump: The deal is working and must be maintained to keep Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. Speaker after speaker at a U.N. Security Council meeting on implementation of the 2015 deal stressed its historic nature and its success after its first year.

The Wednesday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Newly announced Federal Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary pauses for a photograph as he leaves a television studio following an interview in Toronto on Wednesday January 18, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young CENTRAL BANK SIGNALS WARNING AHEAD OF TRUMP: The Bank of Canada is warning there will be “material consequences” for the economy if protectionist policies under U.S. president-elect Donald Trump come to fruition.

Obama defends decision to commute Chelsea Manning’s sentence

President Barack Obama firmly defended his decision to cut nearly three decades off convicted leaker Chelsea Manning’s prison term Wednesday, arguing in his final White House news conference that the former Army intelligence analyst had served a “tough prison sentence” already. Obama said he granted clemency to Manning because she had gone to trial, taken responsibility for her crime and received a sentence that was harsher than other leakers had received.

In Africa, Obamaa s presidency couldna t help but be personal

Africa was electrified by the rise of Barack Obama, the first U.S. president of African descent. It was in Africa that he signaled a historic opening toward Cuba, took aim at the twin scourges of corruption and dictatorship and sent thousands of troops to fight one of the most terrifying disease outbreaks in decades.

Putin: Obama administration trying to undermine Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a joint news conference with Moldovan President Igor Dodon in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017. President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the outgoing U.S. administration of trying to undermine President-elect Donald Trump by spreading fake allegations.

Obama Trumpets ‘Steadfast’ Defense of Israel on Iran Deal Anniversary

President Barack Obama said his administration had remained “steadfast” in countering Iranian threats to Israel in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal. Obama and his secretary of state, John Kerry, in their final week in office, marked the anniversary Monday of the implementation of the deal reached between Iran and six major powers led by the United States exchanging sanctions relief for a nuclear rollback.

Emerging Markets-Mexico peso weakens on Trump auto tariff threat

SAO PAULO, Jan 16 The Mexican peso fell more than 1 percent on Monday, after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on German carmakers, which are stepping up production in low-cost Mexican plants. In an interview with German newspaper Bild, Trump warned he would impose a border tax of 35 percent on vehicles imported to the U.S. market, following campaign promises to revive U.S. industrial jobs and curtail imports from Mexico.

Russia Sanctions Explained: A Look at What Trump Could Roll Back

Executive Director Steph Black says they are… — The wife of the gunman who carried out a mass shooting an Orlando, Florida, nightclub was arrested by the FBI Monday in San Francisco, the FBI and her lawye… — President-elect Donald Trump floated the idea over the weekend of a new negotiation with Russia that would involve rolling back President Obama’s crippling economi… The new requirements for the Veterinary Feed Directive were officially in effect as of January first, but not without misconceptions.