Mueller 'threatened Trump with subpoena' amid Russia probe
Special Counsel Robert Mueller warned he could order Donald Trump to testify as part of a probe into alleged Russian election meddling, US media report.
Mr Mueller suggested the move during talks with Mr Trump's lawyers in March.
The threat to issue a subpoena, as it is known, was reportedly met with a sharp response from one of Mr Trump's former lawyers.
It is believed to be the first time the special counsel has raised such a possibility.
Mr Trump's lawyers insisted during the meeting that the president was under no obligation to face questions by federal investigators in relation to the Russia inquiry, the Washington Post reported.
'This election is personal': Mahathir Mohamad, 92, vows to stop 'corrupt' protege
Former Malaysian PM insists he is returning to the political fray ‘with great reluctance’ because he was betrayed by Najib Razak
Mahathir Mohamad is 92 and by his own account should be enjoying a “nice time” during his retirement. But instead, Malaysia’s arch political puppetmaster and former prime minister is returning to the political fray, bent on toppling his former protege and reclaiming power.
This time around, the man whose ambitions and political grudges came to influence every major power shift in the country for decades has his sights on bringing down the current prime minister, Najib Razak, a man he dismisses as “corrupt”.
Mahathir insists it is with “great reluctance” that he is running for prime minister again. If he wins, it will make him the oldest leader in the world.
US troops will not leave South Korea as part of peace treaty with North, says Moon Jae-in
Around 28,500 US troops are stationed in the South
The US currently has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, under a security agreement in place since the Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty in 1953.
As such, the two Koreas are technically still at war, but North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has demanded US troops withdraw from the South as one of the conditions for the North giving up its nuclear weapons.
“US troops stationed in South Korea are an issue regarding the alliance between South Korea and the United States. It has nothing to do with signing peace treaties,” said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, speaking for the South’s president, Moon Jae-in.
SIPRI: Global military spending rose to $1.7 trillion in 2017
Global military spending in 2017 was at its highest level since the Cold War, according to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. DW spoke with Pieter Wezeman about the regional trends.
DW: In its report on military expenditure around the world in 2017, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) established that there had been a slight increase in spending. The report says that, around the world, $1.73 trillion (€1.45 trillion) was invested for military purposes. That's 1.1 percent more than in 2016. Is this a lot or a little?
Pieter Wezeman:If we take into account statistical imprecisions and the fact that the data is never absolutely reliable, we can say this is a minimal rise. It's also clear that on a global scale, military spending has stabilized at a high level. At a regional level, we see quite considerable differences.
In China, for example, expenditure rose by 5.6 percent, to a total of $228 billion.
Armenian protesters block Yerevan roads as opposition leader is denied power
Armenian protesters blocked several routes into the capital Yerevan on Wednesday as opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan announced a campaign of civil disobedience after parliament rejected his bid to become prime minister.
Days of protests in the small ex-Soviet state have created a standoff between Pashinyan's supporters, who have mobilised thousands of people to take to the streets, and a ruling elite which is determined to hold on to power and still controls the security apparatus.
The ruling Republican Party thwarted Pashinyan's bid to take over as prime minister on Tuesday.
"We will be staying here," David, 19, one of those who blocked the road to the airport, told Reuters. Protesters also blocked several junctions in the city centre and around some state agencies.
Israel's walled-in approach to nationhood
Critics say Israel's controversial barriers to keep out 'wild beasts' are counterproductive to its security concerns.
Speaking during a 2016 visit to a newly completed security barrier along Israel's border with Jordan near the southern Red Sea city of Eilat, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to one day see the entirety of the Jewish nation fenced in.
"In the end in Israel, as I see it, there will be a fence like this that surrounds the whole country,"Netanyahu said.
"I'll be told, 'this is what you want, to protect the villa?' The answer is yes. Will we surround all of the state of Israel with fences and barriers? The answer is yes. In the environment we live in, we need to protect ourselves from wild beasts."
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