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Russia has unambiguously stated its position that the self-ruling island of Taiwan is a part of the mainland-based People's Republic of China, as strategic partners Moscow and Beijing seek to further align their positions regarding geopolitical issues across the globe. During his visit Tuesday to the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared Moscow's stance on the issue. "Russia, like the overwhelming majority of other countries, considers Taiwan to be part of the People's Republic of China," Lavrov said. "We have proceeded and will proceed from this premise in our foreign policy." Only 14 countries today, along...

Secretary General. Joined by 34 other countries, the document enshrines the Trump administration’s pro-life diplomacy on the official record of the General Assembly. “The United States strongly supports the dignity of all human beings and protecting life from the moment of conception throughout the lifespan,” Ambassador Kelly Craft wrote to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres transmitting the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family. Following the letter, the declaration was issued as an official document of the United Nations last week and circulated on December 11, after having been translated into all six official UN languages....

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull isn't known for being a comedian but he tried some daring Donald Trump material on a room full of journalists in Canberra last night. (snip) "It was beautiful. It was the most beautiful putting-me-at-ease ever," he jokes. He even does a Donald Trump impersonation. "The Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls. We are winning so much, we are winning, we are winning like we have never won before," he says. He also alludes to the probe into the Trump campaign's links with Russia, adding: "I have this Russian guy… Believe me,...

For the umpteenth time, the United Nations General Assembly has voted to condemn Israel for defending itself. By a tally of 120 to 8, the members declared that Israel was guilty of “excessive use of force” against Palestinians who were protesting the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. The resolution also requested recommendations to protect Palestinians. For 10 weeks now, the two sides have clashed at the border, resulting in 120 Palestinian deaths. Israeli Defense Forces warned protesters not to approach the Israeli-Gaza border on May 14, the day of the embassy opening. They did anyway - some armed...

RUSH: Nikki Haley, our U.N. ambassador, had the tweet of the year. Nikki Haley tweeted the following: “At the U.N. we’re always asked to do more & give more,” meaning America. The U.N., we, the United States. We’re always asked to do more and give more. “So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American ppl, abt where to locate OUR embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us. On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The U.S. will be taking names.” That is her tweet about the vote today at the U.N....

The United Nations general assembly has delivered a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump, voting by a huge majority to reject his unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The vote came after a redoubling of threats by Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, who said that Washington would remember which countries “disrespected” America by voting against it. Despite the warning, 128 members voted on Thursday in favour of the resolution supporting the long-standing international consensus that the status of Jerusalem – which is claimed as a capital by both Israel and the Palestinians – can only be settled...

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a measure critical of President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel despite U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s warning that the move could put funding for their nations and the global body at risk. The nonbinding UN resolution passed on Thursday by a vote of 128-9, with 35 nations abstaining. Key U.S. allies backing the measure over Trump’s threats included the U.K., France, Italy, Japan and Germany. The U.S. was joined in opposition by countries including Guatemala, Nauru and Micronesia. Abstentions included Australia, Canada and Argentina. “The United States will...

The Kremlin-Yukos conflict, almost a month old now, has shaken the conventional wisdom many had come to accept about the Vladimir Putin presidency. In a nutshell, the standard interpretation before this happened was the following: Putin's 2000 agreement with the oligarchs called for strengthening the state without big business getting overly involved in politics. In turn, the state would not meddle too much in the affairs of the business empires - basically, in the Russian economy. Of course, there are many nuances, but, essentially, the Yukos fracas has put this 'social contract,' as it were, into question. Eventually, most likely...

Summary: The deal to resettle Australia's unwanted refugees in the United States, made between the outgoing Obama administration and Malcolm Turnbull's government over six months ago, is being carried out by the Trump administration. The process is well underway for refugees being detained at Australia's offshore detention centers on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru. There are currently a total of some 1,250 asylum seekers (mainly men from Iran, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan) detained on the islands.

MALCOLM Turnbull thought he could outsmart Donald Trump and trap him into taking 1250 of our boat people. Huge mistake, and now he’s been humiliated. There is no surprise that an angry Trump attacked Turnbull in their call at the weekend and hung up halfway through, after just 25 minutes. What did Turnbull expect? This political disaster was always on the cards from the moment Turnbull announced, on November 13 last year, that he’d signed a deal with then US president Barack Obama to take our boat people detained on Nauru and Manus Island. That was very dumb because just...

WASHINGTON — A phone call between President Trump and the Australian Prime Minister is threatening to develop into a diplomatic rift between two stalwart allies after the two men exchanged harsh words over refugee policy, and Mr. Trump abruptly ended the call. The phone call last Saturday between Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull turned contentious after the Australian leader pressed the president to honor an agreement to accept 1,250 refugees from an Australian detention center. Late Wednesday night, Mr. Trump reiterated his anger over the agreement on Twitter. He called the agreement a “dumb deal” and blamed the...

REFUGEES from Manus Island and Nauru will be resettled in the United States, despite moves by US President Donald Trump to suspend his country’s refugee program for 120 days. Mr Trump vowed to honour the agreement reached between Australia and the previous US administrations during a 25-miute phone call with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today, the first since his inauguration. The one-off refugee resettlement deal seemed unlikely to go ahead after US President this week followed through on his election promise by placing a four-month suspension on allowing refugees into the United States.

THE NEW York Times has launched a blistering attack on Australia’s controversial asylum seeker policy, slamming Immigration Minister Peter Dutton as our “own little Trump”. The weekend feature, called ‘Broken Men in Paradise’, sees Times op-ed columnist Roger Cohen speaking to various detainees on Manus Island and Nauru, and human rights lawyers. His article deems Australia’s policy of offshore detention a “growing embarrassment” to the country, concluding that Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is Australia’s version of President-election Donald Trump. “The government says it has prevented deaths like those in the Mediterranean, where more than 4,000 migrants have drowned this year,”...

Republicans in the House and Senate sent a letter to Obama administration officials this week, demanding more details about nearly 2,500 refugees the U.S. is taking from Australian. The refugees, who originate from some of the world’s most dangerous countries, have apparently been rejected by the Australian government. Now, lawmakers want to know why these refugees – too dangerous for Papua New Guinea and Nauru – are perfectly welcome inside the United States. From Fox News: In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Secretary of State John Kerry, key lawmakers Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and...

Obama Administration Stiff-Arms Lawmakers Questioning Secret Refugee Deal By Melissa Jacobs Published December 01, 2016. Nearly 2,500 refugees from terrorism hotspots around the world are bound for the U.S. after being rejected by Australia, but not even top lawmakers can get answers about who they are. In an unprecedented move, the U.S. State Department has classified details on refugees to be resettled in America via a secret deal made with Australia. The bi-lateral agreement, which Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called a “one-off,” involves 2,465 people currently being held in Papua New Guinea and Nauru who will now be transferred...

Nearly 2,500 refugees from terrorism hotspots around the world are bound for the U.S. after being rejected by Australia, but not even top lawmakers can get answers about who they are.

Obama is big on making up his own laws and rules. He rules by executive order and he's gotten into the truly illegal habit of unilaterally signing treaties with foreign governments. This is a very basic problem. And in the context of his deal to take in Muslim migrants rejected by Australia, he is being warned once again that his actions are grossly illegal and unconstitutional. ... We’re not even being told the total numbers who will shortly be making their way to our shores, but the Journal notes that two of the camps located on Naru and Manus Islands...

The exponential growth in global food production has not only sent the price of fertilisers skyrocketing, but could lead to a world shortage of phosphate within decades. Beyond a temporary market spike driven by richer developing countries and increased supply of biofuels, researchers are warning that the world could face dwindling supplies of phosphate by 2040 unless steps are taken to use it more efficiently and recover it from human waste. But unlike oil, which can be managed by substituting other sources of energy, there is no substitute for the critical role of phosphate in plant development and production. Mineral...

The United States has signed a deal with Bhutan giving US citizens in the country immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the State Department said Tuesday. The deal with Bhutan brings to 34 the number of countries with which the United States has signed so-called "Article 98" agreements exempting US citizens from the court's jurisdiction, said Lynn Cassel, a department spokesman. Bhutan and Bosnia-Herzegovina both agreed to the pacts on May 16 but the deal with Thimphu was not announced until Tuesday. Washington refuses to support the ICC, arguing that it could become a forum for politically...

The UN needs a new home, and the barely-existing island nation of Nauru needs something to do besides selling potash for fertilizer - they have no fresh water, and no agriculture. So I think that it would be the PERFECT new home for the UN. Do you think that if we build it - there - they will GO?