Trump's pick for UN envoy withdraws

WASHINGTON • US President Donald Trump's choice for ambassador to the United Nations, Ms Heather Nauert, has withdrawn from consideration for the job for family reasons, the State Department said.

Ms Nauert, who was the State Department spokesman when Mr Trump chose her for the UN post, had worked as a host for the conservative-leaning Fox News Channel.

"The past two months have been gruelling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw my name from consideration," Ms Nauert said in a State Department statement on Saturday.

REUTERS

Nobel: 'US asked Abe to nominate Trump'

TOKYO • Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last autumn after receiving a request from the US government to do so, the Asahi newspaper reported yesterday.

The report follows Mr Trump's claim on Friday that Mr Abe had nominated him for the Nobel prize for opening talks and easing tensions with North Korea.

The US government had sounded Mr Abe out over the Nobel nomination after Mr Trump's summit in Singapore in June last year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the Asahi said, citing an unnamed Japanese government source.

REUTERS

Mobilising for US aid in Venezuela

CARACAS • Thousands of volunteers in Venezuela were set to begin mobilising yesterday to bring American aid into their crisis-hit country despite a blockade by President Nicolas Maduro, who claims the assistance could be cover for a US invasion.

Once-wealthy Venezuela is gripped by a power struggle between socialist leader Maduro and Mr Juan Guaido, head of the National Assembly who proclaimed himself interim president last month and now has the backing of more than 50 countries.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE