Friday News Roundup - International

In trade news, President Trump put tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union Thursday.

The official justification for the tariffs is national security. Wilbur Ross flatly says Canada and Mexico are getting hit because NAFTA talks have stalled. https://t.co/rvMTsmG1XS

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 31, 2018

The White House is also considering new tariffs on China, to the tune of 25 percent on $50 billion of Chinese goods.

Last week, President Trump canceled the June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Now, the Trump-Kim summit might be back on. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with high-ranking North Korean official Kim Yong Chol in New York “in an effort to salvage a potential summit between Kim and President Trump in Singapore next month”.

In Afghanistan, senior government officials held secret talks with the Taliban to negotiate a cease-fire, according to the BBC.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the Interior Ministry in Kabul, in which at least one policeman was killed and five were wounded. The attack follows two explosions in Kabul last month which killed at least 26 people, including nine journalists.

And a journalist turned up at a news conference in Ukraine this week less than 24 hours after being reported dead.

GUESTS

Shawn Donnan, World trade editor, covering international economics for Financial Times; @sdonnan

Vivian Salama, White House reporter, The Wall Street Journal; @vmsalama

Yochi Dreazen, Foreign editor, Vox; author, “The Invisible Front”; co-host of the podcast “Worldly”; @yochidreazen

Zoe Sullivan, Reporter based in Olinda, Brazil

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

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