US President Trump tweeted criticism of China for not acting forcefully enough on the North Korean nuclear program. His tweets were as follows:
“I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet…
4:29 PM – 29 Jul 2017
…they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!”
4:35 PM – 29 Jul 2017
It is difficult to gain the active support of a potential ally to solve a mutual problem by public criticism. The Chinese have responded to these tweets in an article in Xinhua:
“But emotional venting cannot become a guiding policy for solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula.”
It appears that China is increasingly frustrated with President Trump. Zhang Wenzong has written an editorial for Global Times which is very critical of American foreign policy and has some sharp words for the apparent clumsiness of the US foreign policy team. The situation surrounding policy toward North Korea has become increasingly tense over the last two weeks and one should watch this situation very carefully.
The Washington Post has published an article that summarizes recent scientific research on the issue of climate change. The studies, generally speaking, paint a rather pessimistic view of the future and suggest that there is only a 5% chance that the planet can avoid a less than 2°C temperature increase by the end of this century.
Global Land-Ocean Temperature Index
Opposition leaders in Venezuela were forcibly removed from their homes the day after a sham election for a constituent assembly to rewrite the Venezuelan constitution. The only people allowed to run for the assembly were people selected by the government of President Maduro. The Venezuelan people have made clear what their sentiments are on the matter, but the government has increasingly used force to entrench its power further. It is difficult to expect more from the Venezuelan people in the face of the willingness of the government to use force to gain compliance–the outside world must step up and demand that the Venezuelan government protects its own democratic principles.
Leopoldo Lopez–One of the Opposition Leaders

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