
Colombia, a top source of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine, eradicated more than 100,000 hectares of the crop last year, President Ivan Duque said on Thursday. The Andean country has come under repeated pressure from the United States, an important destination for cocaine shipments, to reduce coca cultivation, especially as crop figures shot up in recent years.

The United States told the United Nations on Wednesday that the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani last week was self-defense and vowed to take additional action “as necessary” in the Middle East to protect US personnel and interests.

Negotiations for the second phase of a pending US-China trade deal will begin promptly but the outcome may wait until after this year's elections, President Donald Trump said on Thursday.

Iran said on Wednesday it respects Iraq's territorial integrity, after firing missiles at Iraqi bases housing US troops. The early Wednesday strike led Iraq to say it would summon the Iranian ambassador.

Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro offered his support to US counterpart Donald Trump on Monday amidst widespread criticism for the killing of a top Iranian commander.

The US government has warned Argentine president Alberto Fernandez that his first actions in foreign policy could endanger both IMF support as well as US investments in the country's energy sector.

US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who died in Baghdad “in a decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad”, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

A partial new US-China trade agreement will be signed in the middle of next month, US President Donald Trump said, announcing that he will also then travel to China for continued talks.

Teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg said on Monday that talking to US President Donald Trump at a United Nations summit on global warming would have been a waste of time since he would not have paid any attention.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Sunday thanked US counterpart Donald Trump for intelligence that helped to foil attacks on Russian soil, the Kremlin said. Putin thanked Trump for the transfer, through special services, of information allowing the prevention of terrorist acts in Russia, the president's office said in a statement.