Beijing, May 16.– North Korea has nixed talks with South Korea set for Wednesday and threatened to pull out of next month’s summit with the U.S., underscoring the difficulty of negotiating with an ossified Stalinist regime that has clung onto power for seven decades precisely by switching between hostility and engagement with assorted world powers.

North Korea’s state KCNA news agency announced the initial cancellation Tuesday, citing the joint air force drills between Seoul and Washington that it deemed a “provocation” and practice for invasion. North Korea has long railed against U.S.-South Korean military drills, but the move surprised many Korea-watchers as Kim had earlier said negotiations would continue regardless of the exercises.

Appeals to the international community for dialogue and justice

 Vatican, May 16.– “Violence never leads to peace.”

Pope Francis gave this warning during his General Audience on May 16, 2018, calling on the international community to resolve the situation in the Holy Land, two days after the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem, which was accompanied by much bloodshed in Gaza.

Expressing his concern, the Pope said: “I am very concerned by the aggravation of tensions in the Holy Land and in the Middle East, and by the spiral of violence that is increasingly moving away from the path of peace, dialogue and negotiations. “