IN BRIEF (Page 8)

European Union

Donald Tusk to convene meeting with EU leaders

European Council President Donald Tusk announced late on Thursday that he would convene a meeting with the leaders of the European Union member states on May 28 to establish procedures for appointing new EU leadership. "I would like to announce that, immediately after the European Parliament elections, on May 28 I will convene a meeting of all the 28 leaders to start the nomination process for new leadership," he said.

United States

Call me, Trump tells Iran as tensions flare

US President Donald Trump has a message for Iran's leaders as tensions flare over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program: "Call me.""What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me," Trump told reporters on Thursday, a day after he slapped Iran with new sanctions. The softer line marks a clear shift, at least rhetorically, from the US government's tough approach to Iran, which has included moving some of America's most formidable military weapons to Middle East.

United Nations

Famine on rise in Near East and North Africa

Famine is on the rise in the Near East and North Africa with more than 52 million people undernourished, most of them in conflict zones, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said on Wednesday. These include Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, whose ongoing four-year war has killed tens of thousands of people, including many civilians. The fighting in Yemen has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 3.3 million people still displaced and 24.1 million in need of aid.

Xinhua - AP - AFP

(China Daily 05/11/2019 page8)