World News Summary: Setting Iran deadlines 'might not be the best idea': new IAEA chief

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Setting Iran deadlines 'might not be the best idea': new IAEA chief

Setting Iran deadlines to explain how uranium particles were found in an undeclared Tehran warehouse could be counter-productive, the new U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said on Tuesday, hoping the fresh dialogue will resolve the months-long standoff. Rafael Grossi, a 58-year-old career diplomat from Argentina, took over as director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday. Arguably the biggest challenge he and his agency face is policing Iran's nuclear deal with major powers. 'Very, very nasty': Trump clashes with Macron before NATO summit

U.S. President Donald Trump and French leader Emmanuel Macron clashed over the future of NATO on Tuesday before a summit intended to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Western military alliance. In sharp exchanges underlining discord in a transatlantic bloc hailed by backers as the most successful military pact in history, Trump demanded that Europe pay more for its collective defense and make concessions to the U.S. interests on trade. The U.S. sends first Salvadoran back to Guatemala under asylum deal

Guatemala received the first Salvadoran citizen from the United States under a new migration agreement that designates the Central American nation a so-called safe third country for asylum seekers, Guatemalan authorities said on Tuesday. The program kicked off in late November, when a Honduran man flew from El Paso, Texas, to Guatemala City on a nearly empty Boeing 737. This marks the second flight. 'Missed his moment': opposition corruption scandal undermines Venezuela's Guaido

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's faltering efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro are facing a new challenge in the form of an influence-peddling scandal that has left disillusioned Venezuelans wondering if Guaido's moment has passed. Guaido on Sunday said the opposition-controlled congress would investigate alleged wrongdoing within its ranks after website Armando.info reported that nine opposition lawmakers had advocated for a businessman linked to Maduro's government. Top U.S. general and senior Chinese counterpart speak on phone: U.S. military

The top U.S. general and a senior Chinese counterpart spoke on Tuesday, the U.S. military said, a day after China banned U.S. military ships and aircraft from visiting Hong Kong. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley spoke with the People's Liberation Army of China Chief of the Joint Staff Department General Li Zuocheng by phone. Israel's Netanyahu, Pompeo to meet in Lisbon this week: U.S.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week in Lisbon, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday. Pompeo, accompanying President Donald Trump at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in London, will be in Lisbon on Wednesday and Thursday and will meet with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, the department said in a statement. It did not say which day Netanyahu and Pompeo would meet. Latin America, U.S. to ban travel within their borders for Venezuela's Maduro, allies

Fifteen countries in the Americas agreed on Tuesday to ban 29 Venezuelans, including the oil-producing country's president, Nicolas Maduro, and his close allies, from traveling within their borders as part of diplomatic efforts to push him to step down. The meeting included representatives from Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Colombia, Chile and Peru, all signatories of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR), an accord that promises mutual defense among members of the Organization of American States (OAS). Bromance or bad date? Trump, Macron trade barbs over tariffs, NATO

They have hosted each other for state visits and dined at the Eiffel Tower, but the once-budding bromance between U.S. President Donald Trump and France's Emmanuel Macron looks to have turned into a bad date as they traded blows ahead of a NATO summit. Despite a 32-year age gap and very different personal styles, Macron and Trump have tended to put on a show of being best buddies, shaking hands with a tight grip and a big grin, bringing their wives along to dinners and exchanging gifts. On The Campaign Trail: UK's PM Johnson blows his budget on sausages

Britain holds an election on Dec. 12, a political gamble by Prime Minister Boris Johnson who sees it as his best chance to break the deadlock in parliament over Brexit. The parties are on the campaign trail, traveling the length and breadth of the United Kingdom to drum up support. Russia accuses alleged U.S. spy of lying about his ill-treatment in jail

Russia on Tuesday accused a former U.S. Marine it has held for almost a year on spying charges of faking health problems in custody and lying about his ill-treatment, comments the U.S. embassy rejected as factually inaccurate "pulp fiction". Paul Whelan, who holds the U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was accused of espionage after agents from Russia's Federal Security Service detained him in a Moscow hotel room on Dec. 28. Whelan, who is being held in pre-trial detention, denies Moscow's allegations and says he was set up in a political sting.

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