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SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Washington’s goal “is not war” as it seeks to ease high military tension with Pyongyang, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said Friday, standing at the heavily-fortified border between the two Koreas. Tension has flared on the Korean peninsula as US President Donald Trump and the North’s ruler Kim Jong-Un have traded threats of war and personal insults that sparked global alarm. But Mattis, who visited the tense Demilitarized Zone […]
PYONGYANG, North Korea (Reuters) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a rare congratulatory message to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of China’s Communist Party Congress, wishing him “great success” as head of the nation, the North’s state-run television KRT reported on Thursday (October 26). The friendly gesture by the North Korean leader, who seldom issues personal messages, comes as China is being urged by the international community to do more to […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US government on Thursday released several thousand secret files on the assassination of president John F. Kennedy, but withheld others on national security grounds. In a statement, the National Archives said that on orders from President Donald Trump, it had released 2,891 records related to the November 22, 1963 slaying of JFK in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy scholars have said the documents released Thursday are unlikely to contain any bombshell […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States layered a new round of sanctions on North Korea Thursday, blacklisting individuals and organizations involved in security and forced labor policies for “ongoing and serious human rights abuses.” Amid the ongoing standoff over Pyongyang’s threatening nuclear posture towards Japan and the United States, the US Treasury sought to boost pressure by placing the financial restrictions on seven senior officials and three state units. The move came as […]
by Carole Landry Agence France Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces were responsible for a deadly sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun that killed scores of people, a UN investigative panel said Thursday. The joint UN-Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) panel said in a much-awaited report that most of the evidence collected supported the “prevailing scenario” that the “sarin was delivered via […]
OSLO, Norway (AFP) — A Russian helicopter with eight people on board crashed at sea in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic on Thursday, Norwegian rescue services said, with fears growing over the fate of those on board. None of the eight aboard had been found six hours after the accident was reported. According to Russian media, they are all Russian nationals. Chances of survival were fading rapidly, with air and water temperatures in the […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared Thursday that Bashar al-Assad has no future as leader of Syria and will have to leave office as part of a UN-mediated peace process. Tillerson’s comments to reporters came during a visit to Geneva in which he met UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, who is trying to convene a new round of peace talks next month. The secretary said US policy has not changed, […]
by Chris Lefkow Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis in the United States a national public health emergency on Thursday and vowed to step up the fight against an epidemic that kills more than 150 Americans every day. “We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic,” Trump said at a somber event at the White House attended by former addicts, parents of overdose victims […]
by Tristan McConnell with Nicolas Delaunay in Kisumu Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — At least four people were killed Thursday in clashes over Kenya’s election re-run, prompting officials to delay the vote in four counties and further tarnishing the credibility of a deeply divisive poll. As counting began after a day marked by bloodshed and poor voter turnout, President Uhuru Kenyatta was heading for a landslide victory after his rival Raila Odinga pulled out. But estimated […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) – A Chinese activist who was imprisoned after speaking out about women’s rights and Hong Kong’s democracy movement has been released after serving three years in jail, her lawyer said Thursday. Su Changlan, a 47-year-old primary school teacher, was first detained in southern Guangdong province on October 26, 2014, after making comments on social media in support of democracy protests in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong. “Su Changlan has returned home […]
by Daniel Bosque with Marianne Barriaux in Madrid BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – Catalonia’s leader warned Thursday that the separatist crisis gripping Spain would escalate if Madrid follows through on its threat to seize the wealthy region’s powers. The crisis over an independence drive in Catalonia is coming to a head as regional lawmakers prepare to meet at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) in a session in Barcelona which many fear will lead to a unilateral declaration […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) – The Italian government adopted a new electoral law Thursday that is set to favor mainstream parties over the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) at general elections expected next year. The new law, which looks likely to land Italy with yet another coalition government at the national elections due between March and May, was adopted by the Senate by 214 votes in favor to 61 against. Furious M5S members have protested from parliament benches […]
