International

Kim visit to China is his ‘solemn duty’: KCNA

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un told Chinese President Xi Jinping that it was his “solemn duty” to make Beijing his first overseas destination as he made his maiden foreign trip as leader, Pyongyang’s official news agency reported Wednesday. The relationship between the North and its key protector has soured in recent years, with China increasingly exasperated by its neighbor’s nuclear antics, and recently showed a new willingness to enforce United […]

Kim said N. Korea ‘committed to denuclearization’: Xinhua

BEIJING, China (AFP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un told China’s President Xi Jinping his nuclear-armed regime was “committed to denuclearization,” the official Xinhua news agency said Wednesday, as he visited Pyongyang’s ally Beijing for the first time, ahead of proposed summits with Seoul and Washington. “The issue of denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula can be resolved, if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace […]

Kim held talks with Xi in Beijing: Xinhua

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un made his first-ever foreign trip as a leader to meet China’s president in Beijing, the official Xinhua news agency said Wednesday, ahead of proposed summits with Seoul and Washington that could unsettle nuclear-armed Pyongyang’s sole ally. During the visit from Sunday to Wednesday which came at the invitation of Xi Jinping, Kim held talks with the Chinese president who hosted a banquet to welcome the North […]

Zuckerberg turns down British MPs for data privacy grilling

by Dario Thuburn Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday turned down a request by British lawmakers to appear before them to respond to concerns about data privacy as the European Union set a deadline for the US social media giant to respond to its own questions. Zuckerberg instead offered to send one of his deputies as the US company comes under new pressure from the EU to […]

Trump discusses China trade with Merkel, Macron: White House

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke with European leaders about working together to counter China’s alleged unfair trade practices, the White House said. The move comes as Washington and the European Union are at loggerheads over Trump’s decision earlier this month to slap steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel “discussed joining forces to counter China’s unfair economic practices and illegal acquisition of intellectual […]

NATO expels seven Russian diplomats over UK spy poisoning

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday the alliance was expelling seven Russian diplomats to show that Moscow faces “costs and consequences” over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain. Stoltenberg announced the maximum size of the Russian mission to NATO would also be slashed by a third, from 30 to 20, as part of international measures to punish Russia over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal. “I have today […]

Egyptians vote in second day of election

CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Polls opened in Egypt on Tuesday for the second day of a presidential election incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to win easily against a little-known rival. Few voters could be seen at one polling station which opened at 9:00 am (0700 GMT) in Cairo. Authorities have been urging Egyptians to participate in the three-day vote, hoping for a high turnout despite what is seen as a foregone conclusion. Sisi’s sole […]

China will give information on Kim Jong Un visit rumors ‘in due course’

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China said on Tuesday it would release information on rumors that Kim Jong Un or another high-level North Korean official paid a visit to Beijing “in due course.” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing she had “no information for the moment. Information will be published in due course.” © Agence France-Presse

Train thought to carry N. Korea official leaves Beijing station: Kyodo

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A train thought to be carrying a senior North Korean official left Beijing station Tuesday, Japan’s Kyodo News reported, with speculation rife that the North’s leader Kim Jong Un was making a surprise visit. It was not clear if Kim was aboard, Kyodo added, after the reported arrival Monday from Pyongyang of a special train met in Beijing by an honor guard. © Agence France-Presse

Putin blames Russia mall fire on ‘criminal negligence”: Kremlin

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday blamed the mall fire that killed at least 64 people in the Siberian city of Kemerovo on “criminal negligence” as he visited the site two days after the tragedy. At least 64 people, many of them children, died when a blaze raged through the busy shopping center in the industrial city on Sunday, one of the deadliest fires recorded in Russia over the past century. Putin […]

Puigdemont en prisión preventiva en Alemania mientras se resuelve su extradición

MADRID, España (Eagle News Service) — Carles Puigdemont se mantendrá en prisión mientras tramita la petición de entrega a España. Esto lo ha decidido el tribunal regional en Schleswig-Holstein de Alemania, un día después de que el ex-presidente fuese arrestado por rebelión mientras intentaba volver  por carretera desde Dinamarca a Bélgica, donde reside desde que se evadió. El arresto fue en cumplimiento de una euroorden de detención emitida por el Tribunal Supremo español. Aparte de Puigdemont, que ha pasado […]

Abe ‘not involved’ in doctoring documents: key official

by Kyoko Hasegawa Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese official at the heart of a cronyism and cover-up scandal that has dented Shinzo Abe’s popularity said Tuesday that the prime minister’s office was not involved in falsifying documents. In hotly awaited parliamentary testimony beamed live on national television, Nobuhisa Sagawa said only his office took part in altering key documents relating to a controversial land sale. “This is an issue only for […]