Sanction News

The halt in services comes against Russia's invasion of Ukraine Ford announced a relief fund for Ukraine Other brands like Volvo are taking similar steps

Beijing has halted its imports of coal, iron ore, seafood and other goods, implementing UN sanctions imposed on North Korea for its provocative nuclear and missile tests.

Bashir travelled to Darfur to show progress before a US decision in October on lifting sanctions in return for Sudan meeting conditions, including resolving conflicts and improving humanitarian efforts on the ground. 

"Mr President, we continue to support Ukraine and remain committed to building the capacity of your armed forces," Mattis said after meeting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.  

Rouhani also criticszed US President Donald Trump for threatening to break the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Kong Xuanyou, 58, is an ethnic Korean from the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang, who has overall responsibility for Asian affairs at the foreign ministry, according to his resume.   

North Korea has a population of 25 million, with an army of between 700,000 and 1.3 million members.  

Donald Trump said his administration will be increasing military budget by many billions of dollars because of the North Korean threat and other reasons.  

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"If the US... Believes that it would remain safe because its mainland is an ocean away from us, nothing would be a bigger misjudgment than that," Pyongyang said.

Seoul last month proposed military talks with Pyongyang but the North refused to respond. Had they gone ahead, they would have been the first official inter-Korean talks since 2015.  

If implemented by all countries, the ban would strip Pyongyang of roughly a third of its export earnings estimated at USD 3 billion per year, according to a diplomat familiar with the negotiations.

The mounting crisis creates a difficult position for  President Hassan Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate who won re-election largely thanks to his efforts at repairing relations with the West.

Writing on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the sanctions package "ends hopes for improving our relations with the new US administration".

Iran announced a major boost in oil production Monday after the lifting of sanctions under its nuclear deal, while condemning new US measures against its missile programme.

With crippling international sanctions against Iran ending, India is looking to increase crude oil imports from the Persian Gulf nation and get oilfield contracts but faces an immediate USD 5.8 billion payout in past oil dues.

The European Union on Thursday slapped a travel ban and asset freeze on 11 people allegedly linked to separatist violence in eastern Ukraine.

The European Union signed an historic free-trade pact with Ukraine on Friday and warned it could impose more sanctions on Moscow unless pro-Russian rebels act to wind down the crisis in the east of the country by Monday.