Tag: Olympics

Alibaba’s Ma hopes Beijing 2022 can be smarter, cheaper, faster

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AFP) — Billionaire Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma foresees an Olympics that is better for fans and athletes and is more economical — and hopes Beijing 2022 will be the pinnacle of that vision. Ma’s e-commerce giant in January launched a multimillion-dollar partnership until 2028 with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) designed to propel the Olympics headlong into the digital era. The deal was particularly significant with the 2022 Winter Olympics taking place on Alibaba’s […]

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Pence announces ‘toughest’ US sanctions on North Korea

by Hiroshi Hiyama and Richard Carter © Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Washington will soon unveil its “toughest sanctions ever” on North Korea, US Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday, adding that the Pyongyang regime would not be allowed to “hijack” the upcoming Olympics. Speaking in Japan before attending the opening ceremony of the Winter Games in South Korea, Pence pledged that Washington would “intensify its maximum pressure campaign” on the North, working with Tokyo. “I’m […]

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US won’t rule out Olympics talks with North Korea

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Vice President Mike Pence or other US officials might meet with North Koreans at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday. Washington has previously said it won’t seek to initiate contact with North Koreans attending the South Korean games, but it does want talks with Kim Jong-Un in an effort to get him to abandon his nuclear program. Asked during a visit to Peru […]

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Japan protests unified Korea Olympic flag with disputed isles

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan said Monday it had lodged a protest with South Korea over the “unacceptable” use of a unified Korean Olympic flag that features a set of disputed islands. The two Koreas have agreed to march together under the unification flag — a pale blue silhouette of the peninsula — at the Games’ opening ceremony on February 9, and to form a combined women’s ice hockey team. The flag shows a […]

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Olympics: IOC ready to splash cash on 2026 Winter Games

MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) – The International Olympic Committee pledged to boost funding for the 2026 Winter Olympics on Wednesday as it seeks it encourage more cities to bid for the games. An ever-shrinking pool of cities willing to take on the multi-billion dollar cost of staging the games saw just two cities in the running for 2022 — Beijing and Almaty. Four cities — Sion in Switzerland, Stockholm, Calgary and Sapporo are believed to be exploring a […]

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Medvedeva heads skating stars in Moscow as Pyeongchang looms

by Nick REEVES Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian ice skating queen Evgenia Medvedeva leads an all-star cast at this week’s European championships which carry special significance with the Olympics barely more than a triple axel away. The Pyeongchang Games start in just over three weeks and two-time world champion Medvedeva will be out to press home her claims on the women’s Olympic title that has been left vacant after the season-ending injury that […]

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North Korea says will attend Olympics in rival South

by Hwang Sunghee Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said it was willing to send athletes and a high-level delegation to the forthcoming Winter Olympics in the South on Tuesday as the rivals held their first official talks in more than two years after high tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. Seoul urged that reunions of families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War — one of the most emotive legacies of the […]

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North Korea names delegates for inter-Korean talks

https://youtu.be/s6GK9-tyUio   SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has named its delegation for a rare high-level meeting with the South this week, the unification ministry in Seoul said Sunday, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cautiously welcomed the talks. The two Koreas agreed Friday to hold their first official dialogue in more than two years and are expected to discuss the North’s participation in next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. The North Korean […]

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Trump says he is willing to talk with North Korean leader

  by Saul Loeb Agence France Presse CAMP DAVID, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would be willing to speak directly with Kim Jong-Un, voicing hope that rare talks between North and South Korea could help deescalate the crisis over Pyongyang’s nuclear drive. Trump’s remarks were a further pivot from his often-bellicose rhetoric on North Korea and Kim, with whom he has engaged in a war of words that raised […]

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N. Korea names delegates for inter-Korean talks

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has sent a list of its delegation for a rare high-level meeting with the South this week, the unification ministry in Seoul said Sunday. The two Koreas agreed Friday to hold their first official dialogue in more than two years and are expected to discuss the North’s participation in next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. The North Korean delegation for Tuesday’s meeting in the truce village of Panmunjom will […]

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North Korea ‘likely’ to join Winter Games, says IOC official

Beijing, China (AFP) — North Korea’s Olympic representative said Saturday the reclusive nation was “likely to participate” in next month’s Winter Games in South Korea, Kyodo news agency reported, in the latest sign of a thaw in tensions on the peninsula. The comments by Chang Ung, Pyongyang’s representative to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), come a day after the North and South agreed to hold rare talks next week and follow Seoul and Washington’s announcement […]

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Olympics chief seeks North Korea visit – report

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Olympics chief Thomas Bach is hoping to visit North Korea as early as this month to discuss Pyongyang’s participation in the 2018 Winter Games, a report said Friday. South Korean organizers of the Pyeongchang Olympics are pushing for the North to compete as they hope to portray the event as a symbol of peace on the flashpoint peninsula. The North missed the October 30 deadline to confirm its participation, although […]

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