tough

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday threatened to impose the “strongest sanctions in history” against Iran if the country’s leadership did not change the course of its foreign and domestic policy. Weeks after the United States pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran, Pompeo spelled out a hardline approach towards the Islamic Republic that included working closely with the Pentagon and regional allies to contain Iran. Pompeo laid out 12 demands for Iran and said relief from economic…

KUALA LUMPUR: In the battle against the car, space-starved Singapore has deployed road tolls, massive spending on public transport, and a licence fee that bumps the cost of an average vehicle to over $80,000. But urban planners looking for solutions to gridlock may find the draconian measures hard to replicate in other less-compliant cities. Singapore has gone further than any other major city to avoid the monster jams that have blighted Asian metropolises such as Jakarta or Manila. The tough approach has been…

WASHINGTON: Top Gulf diplomats were in Washington Tuesday as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sought to help resolve the stubborn Qatar crisis, amid concerns that Saudi Arabia's unyielding stance could foil the effort. With a one-week Saudi deadline looming for Qatar to meet its demands, Tillerson had talks with Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. He quickly followed that with a meeting with Kuwait Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah, whose country has…