Trump’s North Korea hope, US revokes visas, China’s rocket force: 7 global relations reads

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.1. Trump says he plans to meet Kim Jong-un this year, citing good relationshipPhoto: Getty Images/TNSUS President Donald Trump said that he planned to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year, despite Pyongyang denying that the two leaders were in direct communication.Read the full story here.2. China seeks public tips on procurement violations in PLA Rocket Force probePhoto: XinhuaChina has called for public reports of suspected procurement corruption in the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, as an anti-corruption campaign continues involving the country’s strategic missile branch.Read the full story here.3. Trump’s new US mail voting rules take effect as states fear midterm disruptionPhoto: ReutersNew US restrictions on mailed ballots took effect in August, leaving state and local election officials racing to comply – or persuade a federal judge to intervene – weeks before millions of ballots were due to be sent to voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.Read the full story here.4. US sets up task force to combat birth tourism, revokes more than 600 visasPhoto: APThe Trump administration announced the establishment of a task force to end birth tourism in the latest push to curtail the practice after the Supreme Court recently rejected Trump’s attempt to restrict constitutional birthright citizenship.Read the full story here.5. TikTok, ByteDance agree to US$400 million settlement with US governmentPhoto: AFP/Getty Images/TNSTikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance agreed to pay US$400 million to settle a US Justice Department lawsuit accusing the video-sharing app of violating children’s online privacy laws, resolving a major federal case as the platform’s American operations remained under intense political scrutiny.Read the full story here.6. Canada hits US goods with tariffs of up to 50% as trade war escalatesPhoto: The Canadian Press via APCanada announced retaliatory tariffs of up to 50 per cent on US$19.94 billion of American goods, escalating its trade confrontation with Washington days after negotiations collapsed and the Trump administration imposed sweeping new duties on Canadian products.Further ReadingRead the full story here.7. US tech giants invited to discuss AI security tests at White HousePhoto: ReutersTechnology giants Meta and Anthropic were invited to the White House to discuss a voluntary framework under which America’s leading Artificial Intelligence developers could give the government early access to their most advanced models for testing their hacking capabilities.Read the full story here.