The European Central Bank on Thursday said it expected key interest rates to remain at their current historic lows "at least through the summer of 2019."The Frankfurt institution's main refinancing rate currently stands at zero percent, the rate on the marginal lending facility at 0.25 percent, and the rate on deposits at -0.4 percent, meaning banks pay to park money with the ECB. (AFP)

Economy June 14, 2018

The United States, Mexico and Canada won the right to host the 2026 World Cup after easily beating Morocco in a vote by FIFA member nations on Wednesday.   The North American bid received 134 of the 203 votes, while Morocco polled 65 in the ballot at a FIFA Congress held in Moscow on the eve of the 2018 World Cup.Football's showpiece event will return to the North American continent for the first time since 1994 when the United States hosted the tournament.   Delegates had been faced with a clea

Sports June 13, 2018

WASHINGTON -- If Donald Trump’s high-stakes, long-odds bet on building peace with North Korea pays off, it will be because he confidently dismissed all expert advice, moral qualms and diplomatic norms.Only a president like Trump could celebrate a ruthless autocrat like Kim Jong-un as a man who “loves his country,” but then maybe only a Trump could kick-start such a peace process.Less than a year ago, Kim’s accelerating pursuit of a nuclear-armed long-range missile provoked the US president into

North Korea June 13, 2018

HONOLULU -- Donald Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has helped bring the world back from "nuclear catastrophe," the US president said Tuesday."The World has taken a big step back from potential Nuclear catastrophe!" Trump tweeted."No more rocket launches, nuclear testing or research! The hostages are back home with their families. Thank you to Chairman Kim, our day together was historic!" US President Donald Trump and North Korea`s leader Kim Jong-un walk together before their

North Korea June 13, 2018

Kim Jong-un invited Donald Trump to visit North Korea during their historic summit and the US President accepted, Pyongyang state media reported Wednesday, calling it the start of a "radical switchover" in the nuclear-armed Cold War foes' fraught relations.The unprecedented encounter in Singapore Tuesday saw the leader of the world's most powerful democracy shake hands with the third generation scion of a dynastic dictatorship, standing as equals in front of their nations' flags.Kim agreed to th

North Korea June 13, 2018

US President Donald Trump hailed his summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un as a "very great day in the history of the world".But as the world was glued to the unprecedented meeting, we also learned that Kim likes a selfie and that Trump is really, really proud of "The Beast", his armoured car. (Reuters-Yonhap)Bring the boys homeIn a jawdropping post-summit press conference lasting more than an hour, Trump said he wanted  to bring home the 30,0000 or so US troops currently stationed in South Kore

North Korea June 12, 2018

Donald Trump has formed a "special bond" with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, he said Tuesday at the end of a historic meeting during which the two former foes pledged to meet again.The pair signed what Trump called a "pretty comprehensive" and "very important" document, which spoke of "new US-DPRK relations" and committed Washington to "security guarantees".However, asked about denuclearisation -- the crux of the summit, Trump said "we're starting that process", adding that it would begin "ve

North Korea June 12, 2018

South Koreans erupted in applause Tuesday as Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un met for what local media billed as the "talks of the century".As the historic first meeting between a sitting US president and North Korean leader began in Singapore, images of Trump and Kim exchanging handshakes and warm words drew jubilant reactions in Seoul and hopes for a new beginning with Pyongyang. "We hope the summit will be a success and bring us a complete denuclearisation, peace and a new era" in relations betwe

North Korea June 12, 2018

North Korea's state media lauded Singapore Tuesday as they highlighted Kim Jong-un's visit to some of its top tourist attractions.A few hours ahead of his historic summit with Donald Trump -- the first encounter between a leader of the isolated, nuclear-armed North and a sitting US president -- Kim took a break from preparations for a waterfront stroll.He was accompanied by the city-state's foreign and education ministers -- with whom he posed for selfies -- and surrounded by officials as police

North Korea June 12, 2018

PANMUNJEOM, North Korea -- On the world's last Cold War frontier, where troops have long faced off at the truce village that divides the two Koreas, propaganda broadcasts have fallen silent and soldiers from the North are hopeful a historic summit will herald a new era for their country.The blue huts of Panmunjeom are emblematic of the truce that stopped the fighting in the Korean War, and a favoured destination for visiting US leaders looking to demonstrate their resolve to face down the North.

North Korea June 12, 2018

Chinese social media users are scratching their heads over a "Chinese proverb" US President Donald Trump's daughter and advisor Ivanka posted to Twitter as her father prepared for his summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un."'Those who say it can not be done, should not interrupt those doing it.' -Chinese Proverb," Ivanka posted on Monday, the night before her father and Kim came together to seek an end to a tense decades-old nuclear stand-off. In this file photo taken on April 24, 2018 US Preside

World News June 12, 2018

Steadily, almost warily, the two leaders approached each other on a colonnaded verandah, their hands outstretched as a gaggle of media watched from a platform and the rest of the world looked on.Weeks in the making after decades of war, antagonism and venom, the first encounter between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump was a crucial moment.Within the first minute in Singapore, the US president had proclaimed, he would know whether a deal over the North's nuclear arsenal was possib

North Korea June 12, 2018

Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will make history on Tuesday, becoming the first sitting US and North Korean leaders to meet, shake hands and negotiate to end a decades-old nuclear stand-off.The extraordinary summit -- unthinkable only months ago -- comes after the two nuclear-armed foes appeared on the verge of conflict late last year as they slung personal insults and Kim conducted nuclear and missile tests.In a series of tweets early Tuesday, Trump indicated that summit preparations were "going

North Korea June 12, 2018

North Korea has been isolated and ostracized for decades, but leader Kim Jong-un will share center spot on the world stage Tuesday at his Singapore summit with US President Donald Trump.His father and grandfather restricted their overseas trips to the Communist bloc or non-aligned countries -- with his father Kim Jong-il having a notorious fear of flying.But Kim, who is still in his mid-30s, repeatedly showed an ability to stamp an outsized footprint on the global stage without ever leaving home

North Korea June 10, 2018

Tuesday's unprecedented US-North Korea summit could finally pave the way for the longest ceasefire in history to be replaced by a peace treaty -- formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War nearly seven decades after the guns fell silent.The North and South remain technically at war, but US President Donald Trump said a permanent accord to end the conflict would be on the table at his historic meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore. Seoul announced this week it is already in three-w

North Korea June 10, 2018