哇旅The visit marks the first time the ship has visited West Africa, Xinhua said

行這However, the prime minister has the authority to dissolve the lower chamber and call a general election at will樣穿This scenario would see official campaigning for the national poll kick off on Oct 10, with voters thereafter casting their ballots on Oct 22

哇旅A lower house election must be held by December 2018 as this is when the four-year terms of current lower house lawmakers expire行這If Abe goes ahead with his plan to call a snap election, then three by-elections that have been slated to take place on Oct 22 would be replaced by the general election樣穿The opposition camp, however, has criticized Abe's move to call a snap election, with some accusing him of merely trying to escape from the influence-peddling scandals he is currently implicated in and engineering his stay in power哇旅"Nikai on Tuesday, during a meeting of ruling LDP executives reportedly conveyed Abe's intentions and relayed the party's determination to get all of its candidates fielded in the race行這Prior to Abe's departure Monday for a five-day trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, Abe told Nikai during a meeting that he "will decide on the timing of the snap election after returning from the UN General Assembly on Friday

樣穿Abe last dissolved the lower house of parliament in November 2014 and thereafter led the ruling coalition to a sweeping victory in the following election in December哇旅In addition, the fact that new opposition parties in the process of being formed will not have time to organize themselves and mount a serious challenge to Abe and the LDP in such a short space of time, has made many political watchers question Abe's regard for democracy and the will of the people行這Abe will probably make a decision after returning from a Sept 18-22 trip to the United States, the sources said

樣穿Top LDP and Komeito officials will meet on Monday to discuss preparations, they added哇旅"We need to be clear that the latest UN resolution not only sanctions the DPRK's nuclear activities but also calls for the reopening of dialogue and resolving the issue through consultations," Cui said行這"Without implementing these, we also will consider it as noncompliance with the resolution," Nebenzia said, Reuters reported樣穿China's envoy to Washington has urged the US to do more to resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, while stressing that the UN resolution on Pyongyang also calls for dialogue and peace talks

The ambassador's remarks followed shortly after the DPRK's latest missile launch drew condemnation from the United Nations and refueled fiery rhetoric about a military option from the Trump administration, which also asked China to mount pressure on the DPRK, partly by cutting oil shipments to Pyongyang"At the UN's headquarters in New York on Friday, Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia also called on the US and others to implement the "political and diplomatic solutions" that are called for in the latest sanctions resolution

Cui said the resolution is a shared responsibility for all partiesThe UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2375 on Sept 11 in response to the DPRK's sixth nuclear test, conducted on Sept 3"Everybody else will have to do their share; they cannot leave this issue to China alone," Cui said at a reception on Friday night in WashingtonCui: United Nations resolution also calls for dialogue Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai

"Cui, however, bluntly said that China will never recognize the DPRK as a nuclear state and opposes nuclear weapons anywhere on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, including Japan and TaiwanInstead, it should do more to find effective ways to resume dialogue and negotiations, Cui saidHours after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched another missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said Washington "should be doing much more than now", so that there's real, effective international cooperation on the Korean Peninsula issueWhen asked about the oil cuts, Ambassador Cui told reporters, "We are fully prepared to implement all the Security Council resolutions－no more, no less

China responded by saying that it has done its best, and the initiators of a problem should resolve it, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying"The resolution should be implemented comprehensively

However, the crisis on the Korean Peninsula has spilled over and endangered regional security and stability, as well as relations between other countriesRussian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia also warned that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution

Trump tweeted earlier this month that the United States is considering "stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea"Threats, tests, launches, mutual threats should be stoppedSince then, Pyongyang has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, threatened to fire missiles into the waters around the US pacific island territory of Guam and launched two missiles over JapanTekeda Alemu, Ethiopian ambassador to the United Nations and the president of UN Security Council for the month of September, addresses a press encounter after UN Security Council closed-door consultations at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept 15, 2017In a press statement released on Friday after closed-door consultations, the 15 members of the council condemned "the highly provocative launch of a ballistic missile" by the Democratic People's Republic of KoreaThe DPRK fired a missile over Japan's northern island Hokkaido and into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, which came only days after the Security Council voted in favor of a resolution toughening sanctions on the DPRK over its nuclear test early this month

"The Security Council also emphasized the vital importance of the DPRK immediately showing a sincere commitment to denuclearization through concrete action, and stressed the importance of working to reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula," said Tekeda Alemu, president of the Security Council, in a readout of the press statementThe council members stressed the importance of maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia at large, and welcomed international efforts to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive settlement of the crisis through dialogue, said Alemu, the Ethiopian ambassador to the United Nations

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated recently after US President Donald Trump threatened to deal with the DPRK with "fire and fury" last month[Photo/Xinhua]UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations Security Council has condemned the latest missile launch by Pyongyang and urged a peaceful solution to the crisis on the Korean Peninsula

We should engage in meaningful negotiations," he told reporters after the consultations"Chinese ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said Friday "both China and the United States benefit from bilateral trade, so efforts to undermine Sino-US trade, or even slapping sanctions on China, I think would be off-target

To ease tensions, China has been committed to a peaceful solution by supporting Security Council sanctions on one hand, and on the other proposing initiatives which aim to suspend hostilities by both Pyongyang and WashingtonThe ambassador said the US should refrain from issuing more threatsInstead, Washington should do more to find effective ways to resume dialogue and negotiationscn]The United States should do more to resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula than it has, Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said on Friday

Cui made the remarks on the sidelines of a reception at the embassy in Washington to mark the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of ChinaThe UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2375 on Monday to respond to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's sixth nuclear test, conducted on Sept 3

"We are fully prepared to implement all the Security Council resolutions, no more, no less," Cui said, adding that China expects other relevant parties to do the sameThe ambassador also said China will never recognize the DPRK as a nuclear state and opposes nuclear weapons anywhere on the Korean Peninsula

"Honestly, I think the United States should be doing … much more than now, so that there's real effective international cooperation on this issue," Cui said"Everybody else will have to do their share; they cannot leave this issue to China alone," Cui said

The ambassador said China has done its best to implement the UN Security Council resolutions in a strict and full fashion, while pushing for relevant parties to resolve problems through peaceful negotiations"China is not the driver behind the escalation of the tensionsAll relevant parties should remain calm and avoid actions that intensify tensions," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile that flew over northern Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean earlier in the day"It's irresponsible and unhelpful for the settlement of the issue to unjustly blame others and shirk responsibilities in any form," she added

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Pyongyang's latest missile launch on Friday, at the request of the US and Japanese delegations, days after it unanimously adopted a new resolution imposing more sanctions over Pyongyang's Sept 3 nuclear testShi Yongming, a researcher at the China Institute of International Relations, said the US never tries to determine what its own problem is, but insists on blaming China for the current tensions

"The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is complicated, sensitive and severeBeijing expressed its opposition to Pyongyang's use of ballistic missile technology in violation of UN Security Council resolutions on Friday, calling for restraint from all relevant parties

China also does not hold the key to the Korean Peninsula issueShe noted that the essence of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is a security issue, and the core is conflict between Pyongyang and Washington