Rumors spread that Venezuela's military secretly agreed to a coup; Amsterdam bans gasoline and diesel cars

Ukraine's president-elect supports resumption of Quartet talks

Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Photo: Reuters

On May 3, advisor to the President-elect of Ukraine on international, economic and financial affairs, Mr. Oleksandr Danylyuk said that resuming the Normandy format negotiations is one of the top priorities of President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy after taking office.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels (Belgium), Mr. Danylyuk affirmed that the resumption of negotiations of the Normandy Four (including France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine) will be the top priority of the new Ukrainian government, but the main goal is not to hold the conference as soon as possible but to turn the conference into a meaningful event. In addition, Mr. Danylyuk said that after the Ukrainian Parliament sets the date of inauguration, President-elect Zelenskiy will plan foreign visits, as well as invite foreign leaders to visit Ukraine.

Rumors spread that the Venezuelan military had secretly agreed to a coup with the US.

President Nicolas Maduro speaks to young people in Caracas on May 2. Photo: Reuters

Sources of the newspaperABC (Spain)On May 3, it was revealed that through phone calls, the government of US President Donald Trump had reached an agreement with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino that President Maduro would be arrested in the April 30 coup initiated by opposition leader Juan Guaido.

The agreement, drafted by Guaido, lays out a roadmap for elections within a month of Maduro's ouster and officially recognizes the opposition leader as the "legitimate interim president," according to a source from the US National Security Council. The two sides are expected to sign the agreement at the La Carlota military base in the capital Caracas. From there, Guaido called on the armed forces and civilians to rise up in a coup on April 30. However, Defense Minister Padrino changed his mind at the last minute and the military continued to support President Maduro, leading to the coup failing within hours.

US spends $1.1 billion on missile development after withdrawing from treaty with Russia

The US test-launched a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California in February 2016. Photo:Reuters.

A recent report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) said that just three months after withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the US military signed many missile development agreements with contractors with a total value of up to 1.1 billion USD.

The biggest beneficiaries, according to the report, were Raytheon with $537 million for 44 contracts, Lockheed Martin with $268 million for 36 contracts, and Boeing with $245 million for four contracts. However, ICAN also noted that it could not confirm whether all of these contracts were for the production of nuclear weapons.

South Korea wants North Korea to 'take action' to get sanctions relief

South Korean Foreign Minister at a press conference on May 3 in Seoul. Photo:AFP.

At a press conference on May 3 in Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Pyongyang needs to demonstrate "clear, firm and substantial" denuclearization actions if it wants international sanctions against the country to be eased, in the context of US-North Korea negotiations remaining deadlocked.

Ms Kang's statement came just days after North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said denuclearization would only be "possible when the US changes and reshapes its current calculations". Denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang have made no progress since the February summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi failed to reach a common agreement.

To protect the environment, Amsterdam bans gasoline and diesel vehicles

Many Amsterdam residents have switched to cycling. Photo: Reuters

Gasoline and diesel cars and motorbikes will be banned in the Dutch capital from 2030 in an effort to clean up the city's air, Amsterdam's city council said. "Pollution is a silent killer and one of the biggest health risks in Amsterdam," city transport councillor Sharon Dijksma said on May 2.

According toReutersDespite the fact that many Dutch people use bicycles, air pollution in the Netherlands is still worse than the European Union's permitted limits, mainly due to heavy traffic in major cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Dutch Ministry of Health has also issued a warning that nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and fine particulate matter can lead to respiratory disease. Chronic respiratory disease can reduce people's life expectancy by more than 1 year.