North and South Korea agree to withdraw border guard posts; Saudi Arabia will not reimpose oil embargo

Canadian Prime Minister: Working with the White House boss is "not easy"

US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo: Reuters

AFP reported that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said working with US President Donald Trump is always "not simple" while the Canadian leader still welcomed the successful renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), now renamed the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA).

Speaking in a televised interview on October 21, Mr. Trudeau said he had done his job “supporting Canadians” in agreeing the USMCA with his two partners, the United States and Mexico. When asked about his relationship with the White House boss, Mr. Trudeau cautiously admitted that it was always “not simple,” adding: “He understands that and so do I. We disagree on a lot of issues and sometimes it’s hard to find common ground, but we’ve worked it out relatively well.”

Russian President signs decree on sanctions in response to Ukraine

Photo for illustration purposes only: The Energy Advocate

According to the Kremlin website on October 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing the country to impose sanctions on Ukrainian companies and individuals, in response to sanctions imposed by Kiev on Moscow.

The new decree is seen as a "response to the unfriendly actions of Ukraine," which involves Kiev imposing sanctions against Russian citizens and legal entities, and is "aimed at protecting national interests." According to the decree, President Putin also instructed the Russian government to "determine a list of Ukrainian individuals and legal entities that will be subject to special economic measures."

Two Koreas agree to remove weapons, guard posts on border

South Korean soldiers patrol the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Photo: Reuters

The two Koreas and the US-led United Nations Command agreed on October 22 to withdraw guns and guard posts from the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) this week, the South Korean Defense Ministry said.

This was part of the outcome of the second round of working-level trilateral talks, which took place at the Freedom House on the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom earlier in the day. Under last month's inter-Korean military agreement, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to disarm the Joint Security Area, and the first-ever trilateral talks between South Korea, North Korea and the United Nations Command were held last week to discuss ways to implement the agreement. The United Nations Command is tasked with monitoring activities inside the DMZ.

Unable to stop migrants, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have had aid cut by US President

Honduran migrants on the route connecting Ciudad Hidalgo with Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico on their journey to the US on October 21, 2018. Photo: AFP/ VNA

On October 22, US President Donald Trump announced that he would begin cutting aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador because their governments had failed to stop a large caravan of migrants heading towards the US border. The US leader made it clear that Washington would begin cutting, or drastically reducing, foreign aid to the three Central African countries. Mr. Trump also expressed frustration that Mexican police and military had failed to stop the caravan of migrants, which he said were mixed with criminals, heading towards the southern border of the United States.

On Twitter, President Donald Trump called the caravan of 4,000 Honduran migrants heading toward the United States a national emergency, warning the US Coast Guard and military to prepare for a possible confrontation as the migrants head toward the border. It is unclear what formal action the US President will take to promote military or border patrol operations in the area.

Russian soldiers have arrived in Pakistan to participate in joint exercises

Russian soldiers arrive in Pakistan. Source: Twitter

According to Pakistani military sources, Russian soldiers arrived in Pakistan on October 22 to participate in a joint military exercise. This is the third joint exercise under the bilateral training cooperation between the two countries since 2016. The Pakistani military's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) media agency said that the joint exercise "Druzhba-III" (Friendship-III) will be held in the mountainous areas of Pakistan until November 4.

Russian media reported that the two countries' militaries will practice carrying out missions at an altitude of 1,400 meters above sea level. Pakistani defense experts said the exercises are aimed at improving coordination in counter-terrorism operations, organizational methods and skills that the Pakistani military has mastered in the fight against terrorism.

Saudi Arabia has no plans to reimpose oil embargo

An oil refinery at Jubail port, Saudi Arabia. Photo: AFP/TTXVN

Saudi Arabia said on October 22 that it has no plans to reimpose the oil embargo that caused a severe oil crisis in 1973, even as relations between the Middle Eastern country and Western countries deteriorated following the controversial death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

He stressed that Saudi Arabia is a fully responsible country and that over the past decades, Riyadh has always used oil production as a responsible economic tool and separated it from political issues. Saudi Arabia's stance is to maintain current policies to ensure market stability and support global economic growth.

The scene of a train accident in Yilan, Taiwan, China on October 21. Photo: Mirror/VNA

On October 22, the head of the Chinese government of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, asked local authorities to quickly and transparently investigate the cause of the serious train accident on October 21 that left more than 100 people dead and injured.

In a new announcement, Tsai Ing-wen's office said that the cause of the accident is something everyone wants to know, so the government asked the investigating agencies to quickly clarify the accident from the beginning until it caused catastrophic consequences.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating falls for third consecutive week

South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Photo: Yonhap/VNA

The Realmeter Polling Center, which was commissioned by CBS on October 22, said 60.4 percent of respondents had a positive opinion of President Moon Jae-in's performance in governing the country, down 1.5 percent from the previous week and the third consecutive week of decline. On the other hand, 33 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion, up 1.6 percent, while 6.6 percent did not give an answer, down 0.1 percent.

Realmeter analyzed that the President's approval rating is on the decline due to the controversy over special hiring at Seoul Metro, protests by taxi companies against Kakao's carpooling app, and repeated attacks by opposition parties on the government's income-led growth policy. The survey was conducted with 2,505 voters nationwide from October 15 to 19.