| North Korea talks: In Trump-Xi poker game, who has the better hand? Posted: 29 May 2018 01:44 PM PDT ![North Korea talks: In Trump-Xi poker game, who has the better hand?]( "North Korea talks: In Trump-Xi poker game, who has the better hand?") When President Trump last week dubbed Chinese President Xi Jinping a "world-class poker player" for his diplomatic prowess in handling the tricky North Korea challenge, it raised eyebrows in Beijing and left US-China watchers perplexed. Mr. Trump, in comments during his May 22 White House meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, referred specifically to North Korea's "change in attitude" after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's recent second meeting with Mr. Xi in just over a month. It was the North's hardened position that prompted Trump to cancel a proposed June 12 summit between him and Mr. Kim.
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| Saudi Arabia’s struggle to define national identity Posted: 29 May 2018 01:07 PM PDT ![Saudi Arabia's struggle to define national identity]( "Saudi Arabia's struggle to define national identity") Most nations allow at least some public debate over issues, such as economic policy or the role of social media. In Saudi Arabia, the debate is even more basic: Are the Saudi people even a nation, one with a clear national identity?
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| Pressure mounts on global efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation Posted: 29 May 2018 12:25 PM PDT ![Pressure mounts on global efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation]( "Pressure mounts on global efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation") In fact, it is possible that we could be entering an age of proliferation, in which more countries will move to acquire nuclear weapons. Since one prime possibility for a new nuclear arms race is the politically unstable Middle East, there is an additional danger: that non-state groups – like Al Qaeda, its offshoots or rivals – could eventually gain access to nuclear weapons material as well. This is not just because the North Koreans, despite serial international efforts to find a diplomatic way to prevent them from doing so, have succeeded in going nuclear.
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| In the heroics of 'Le Spiderman,' recognition of what migrants can offer Posted: 29 May 2018 11:38 AM PDT ![In the heroics of 'Le Spiderman,' recognition of what migrants can offer]( "In the heroics of 'Le Spiderman,' recognition of what migrants can offer") It was his quick instincts, his strength – and no small dose of daring – that led Mamoudou Gassama up five stories of the façade of a Parisian apartment block where a small child was gripping onto an exterior balcony for his life. "Le Spiderman," as he's been dubbed, has been feted across France for saving the four-year-old boy. As the undocumented immigrant from Mali was invited to apply for naturalization by President Emmanuel Macron, his fortitude was on full display.
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