monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

North Korea has celebrated the Trump-Kim summit as a great win for the country, with state media reporting that the US intends to lift sanctions.

The two leaders met on Tuesday, signing a brief declaration on denuclearisation and reducing tensions.

President Donald Trump said afterwards that sanctions would remain in place for now, but would be lifted once "nukes are no longer a factor".

He also announced an unexpected end to US-South Korea military drills.

The move - long demanded by Pyongyang - has been seen as major concession to North Korea and appeared to take US allies in the region by surprise.

The Pentagon has since sought to reassure its allies of its "ironclad" security commitments.

Saudi-backed forces have begun an assault on the key Yemeni port of Hudaydah, which is held by rebels.

Hudaydah is the main point of entry for aid in Yemen's three-year civil war and agencies have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if it is attacked.

More than seven million people in the war-torn country are dependent on aid.

Bombing started after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels ignored a deadline set by the exiled government to withdraw by midnight (21:00 GMT on Tuesday).

The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network reported that the "liberation" of Hudaydah had begun with a large-scale ground assault supported by air and naval cover.

Explosions were heard on the outskirts of the port city, it added.

"The liberation of Hudaydah port is a turning point in our struggle to recapture Yemen from the militias that hijacked it to serve foreign agendas," the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi said.

The Saudi-backed coalition and the government have accused the rebels of using the port to smuggle in Iranian weapons, which the rebels deny.

The United Arab Emirates Junior Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash told the BBC that the coalition had run out of patience with diplomatic efforts after a previous 48-hour deadline expired.

He said the coalition wanted the UN to take control of the port but it was prepared to take military action if the Houthis refused to withdraw.

The civil war in Yemen has killed about 10,000 people over the past three years and created what the UN says is the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

A Saudi-led multinational coalition intervened in the conflict in Yemen in March 2015 as forces loyal to President Hadi battled the Houthi movement, which champions Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority.

Funny imagining a Trump/Trudeau boxing match, isn't it. Or Trump with Harry Reid. I think we all find it a great pity to be deprived of the visual of Donald Trump in the ring wearing boxing shorts designed by Ivanka.

coldjoint wrote:

I have traced my family back to the 9th century.

Well, that's really interesting (at least for me).

Where did you find the related document? (The document of my first known ancestor is from February 25, 1287. State Archive North Rhine Westphalia, Westphalian department, Prince Bishopric Münster No 263)

coldjoint wrote:

It means nothing.

True. Just interesting.

Builder, you’d appreciate this. Trump bias is pretty virulent.

So basically we got zilch and they got military exercises that protect South Korea to stop.

Might have been more than a few weeks.

Where in God's green earth would Ivanka find enough silky material? He doesn't even skip up the steps of aircraft like Reagan could, that flabby waste of oxygen can't even climb over or under the ropes.

The guy seems a creation of the Warner Brothers cartoon illustrators.

The statement refers to denuclearization of the entire Korean Peninsula, North Korea’s favored language. And while the United States in the past has demanded so-called CVID — or complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization — the statement does not include the words “verifiable” or “irreversible.”

It might be an eye opener for you to check out some of the NYT articles and editorials from Oct 18 - 19 1994

This time very severe economic sanctions are already in place and will remain in effect until concrete steps have been taken to dismantle the North Korean Nuclear Weapons and Missile test Facilities

I have a bridge here I'm forced to sell, exceptional condition with very low mileage...

While the World's eyes are on NK the Saudis start a major offensive.