Libya civil war: Rivals to join major powers in Germany

BBC News:Libya's warring rival factions are expected to join major powers in Germany in a renewed push to secure a ceasefire to halt the civil war.

The talks follow the collapse of an earlier truce amid recriminations.

The conflict pits powerful General Khalifa Haftar against the UN-backed government in the capital, Tripoli.

Sunday's summit also aims to extract a pledge from foreign powers to honour a UN arms embargo and to halt any further interference in the conflict.

On Saturday, forces loyal to Gen Haftar blocked oil exports from major ports - a blow to the country's main source of income.

And reports on Sunday suggest the general's forces had shut down pipelines in Libya as the conference got under way.

BRITAIN’S PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN TO GIVE UP ROYAL TITLES

News One:Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will give up their royal titles and public funding as part of a settlement with the Queen to start a new life away from the British monarchy.

The historic announcement from Buckingham Palace on Saturday follows more than a week of intense private talks aimed at managing the fallout of the globetrotting couple’s shock resignation from front-line royal duties.

It means Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson Harry and his American TV actress wife Meghan will stop using the titles “royal highness” — the same fate that befell his late mother Princess Diana after her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996.

“Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family,” the 93-year-old monarch said in a statement.

“I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.”

Libya civil war: UN envoy Salamé says foreign intervention must end

BBC News:Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Salamé called on international powers to stop supporting local proxy groups with mercenaries, arms, financing, and direct military support.

 He said such actions created "a vicious circle where their proxies call for intervention in their fight, and their own ambitions bring more divisions.

 The role of foreign states in the conflict has come into focus in recent months, with Turkey passing a controversial law to deploy troops to help GNA forces in Tripoli.

 Meanwhile, Gen Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) has the backing of Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Jordan.

 Sunday's summit aims to extract a pledge from foreign powers to honour a UN arms embargo on Libya, and to halt any further interference in the conflict.

 The meeting will bring the two sides together, along with their foreign backers, the UN and other global powers, including Russia's President Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

 Mr Salamé told the BBC that a political solution to the conflict was best for all parties involved because Libya - with its vast geography, strong local identities, heavily-armed population and weakened government infrastructure - was a difficult country for one group to control.

Trump warns Iranian supreme leader to be 'very careful with his words'

CGTN: U.S. President Donald Trump fired back Friday evening at Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who earlier had mocked him as a "clown" – then in a subsequent tweet Trump said Iran's leaders "should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again!"

 In his first Friday prayers sermon for eight years, Khamenei threw his support behind the elite Revolutionary Guards after their belated admission that they had accidentally downed an airliner triggered days of street protests.

 "The villainous U.S. government repeatedly says that they are standing by the Iranian people. They lie," Khamenei said in a tweet on Friday. "If you are standing with the Iranian people, it is only to stab them in the heart with their venomous daggers.

Movement of US warships in Taiwan strait after election

Yahoo: A U.S. warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the island's defense ministry said, less than a week after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election by a landslide on a platform of standing up to China which claims the island.

The ship sailed in a northerly direction through the sensitive waterway and Taiwan's armed forces monitored it throughout, the ministry said in a brief statement on Friday, describing the sailing as an "ordinary mission"

Under the Trump administration, the United States has made bolstering its defense and other ties with Taiwan a priority, in spite of Chinese anger.

The top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan, Brent Christensen, told a forum in Taipei on Friday that his office's theme for this year was "real friends, real progress", and took what appeared to be an indirect dig at China.

Christensen said the United States this year will seek to further Taiwan's engagement in the world, something the island has found difficult due to China blocking Taiwan's participation in most international organizations.

"The United States and Taiwan are members of the same family of democracies," he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump fired back Friday evening at Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

who earlier had mocked him as a "clown" – then in a subsequent tweet Trump said Iran's leaders "should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again!"

"The so-called 'Supreme Leader' of Iran, who has not been so Supreme lately, had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Their economy is crashing, and their people are suffering. He should be very careful with his words!"

U.S. President Donald Trump fired back Friday evening at Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

who earlier had mocked him as a "clown" – then in a subsequent tweet Trump said Iran's leaders "should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again!"

"The so-called 'Supreme Leader' of Iran, who has not been so Supreme lately, had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Their economy is crashing, and their people are suffering. He should be very careful with his words!"