The United States, Japan and South Korea announced a new economic-security consultation and reinforced their support for stability across the Taiwan Strait on Monday, sending a coordinated message on two of Beijing’s most sensitive issues just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s summit with US President Donald Trump. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun unveiled the initiative after meeting on the...

US President Donald Trump’s approval ‌rating fell to 32 per cent – the lowest of his political career – as his fellow Republicans soured on his handling of the cost of living amid the unpopular Iran war, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The four-day poll, which closed on Sunday, showed 73 per cent of Republicans approved ⁠of Trump’s job performance, down from 82 per cent in a Reuters/Ipsos poll a week ‌earlier. His overall approval stood at 35 per cent that week. Trump returned to the White House...

US President Donald Trump showed off his new White House helicopter landing pad on Monday, attempting to brush aside a First Amendment firestorm even as major television networks kept their cameras away because CNN was not allowed to cover the event. Trump used oversized gold scissors to cut a red, white and blue ribbon. He then exchanged handshakes with officials wearing green construction smocks and hard hats – seeking to portray business as usual. The noise of his waiting helicopter meant...

Prosecutors said on Monday they had brought the first-ever charges in the UK against a man for his alleged role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, after a complex seven-year investigation. Vincent Brown, 65, was arrested and charged on Monday with one count of being an ancillary to genocide and six offences of aiding crimes against humanity in Rwanda, prosecutors and the London police said. “He is alleged to have directed and incited acts of murder and genocide carried out by others” against the...

Hundreds of flights from US east coast airports were cancelled or delayed on Monday due to a telecommunications line outage caused by a construction mistake, US officials said. Ground stops were issued for John ‌F. Kennedy Airport and LaGuardia airports, as well as an airport in Teterboro, New Jersey, as 130 world leaders and dozens of ministers are arriving in New York for the annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said on social media...

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s party said on Monday that his three sisters had been arrested ahead of ‌a protest ⁠march planned for September 27. “Punjab police have raided Aleema Khan’s home and have abducted Imran Khan’s other two sisters, his nephews and their children,” Zulfi Bukhari, a spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said on social media. “Khan’s sisters and their children were taken into custody but the children were released,” PTI’s information...

President Xi Jinping has expressed hope that the younger generation will advance Sino-US cooperation, foster mutual understanding and ensure steady, long-term development of bilateral ties, according to Chinese state media. Xinhua reported on Monday that Xi’s remarks came in his reply to a letter from students at 10 US universities who shared their thoughts and experiences after attending a youth exchange programme in China earlier this month. “Young people from China and the United States share...