18 February

 

The foreign ministers of Japan and Russia have failed to narrow their differences over four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan. But they agreed to continue negotiations.Taro Kono and Sergey Lavrov met for about 90 minutes on Saturday in Munich, Germany, on the sidelines of a security conference. The ministers are in charge of negotiations on concluding a peace treaty that would include a solution to the islands issue. Kono said at the start of the meeting that he wants to have thorough discussions based on the agreement reached between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin in November.

The US State Department says Spokesperson Heather Nauert has withdrawn her name as a possible candidate for ambassador to the United Nations.

Nigeria's opposition parties have reacted sharply to the abrupt postponement of the presidential election.

US Vice President Mike Pence has stressed the necessity of maintaining sanctions against North Korea ahead of the second US-North Korea summit scheduled for later this month.

Rescue workers in Zimbabwe have pulled eight gold miners out of a tunnel that became flooded after a nearby dam collapsed on Tuesday, following heavy rain.