by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The most senior South Koreans to travel to North Korea for more than a decade met leader Kim Jong Un Monday, a Seoul official said, the latest step in an Olympics-driven rapprochement on the divided peninsula. The delegation, representing the South’s President Moon Jae-in, is pushing for talks between the nuclear-armed regime and the United States, after Kim sent his sister Kim Yo […]
Tag: politics
South Korean delegation in historic trip to Pyongyang
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The most senior South Koreans to travel North for more than a decade headed for Pyongyang Monday on a mission to push for talks between the nuclear-armed regime and the United States. An intense rapprochement saw athletes from both sides of the divided peninsula march together at the South’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics last month, with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un sending his sister as a special envoy to […]
Merkel vows to work for the ‘good for Germany’ as SPD paves way for her fourth term
by Hui Min Neo Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany — (AFP) Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday vowed to work with the Social Democrats for the “good of Germany”, after the centre-left party agreed to join her new coalition, but the veteran leader will go into her fourth term with weaker cards than before. Two in three of the SPD’s rank and file voting in a make or break referendum backed a new partnership with […]
South Korea’s Moon says Japan cannot declare wartime crimes ‘over’
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday said Japan cannot declare the issue of its former wartime sex slaves “over”, repeating calls for Tokyo to apologize over the issue and confront wrongdoings. The controversy of the so-called comfort women — those forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II — has marred relations between the neighbors for decades. Park Geun-Hye, Moon’s ousted predecessor, struck a deal […]
Slow bleed: Trump aide Hicks the latest to leave White House
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump lost another close aide Wednesday, when White House Communications Director Hope Hicks announced she was leaving. The turnover among Trump’s staff has been inordinately high since he became president on January 20, 2017, and Hicks was the fourth communications director to depart. Here are the main Trump aides who have come and already gone in the first 13 months of his presidency: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn […]
Prosecutors seek 30 years’ jail for ousted S. Korea president
by Park Chan-kyong © Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a 30-year-jail sentence for former president Park Geun-hye, sacked over a wide-ranging corruption scandal which exposed shady links between big business and politics and prompted massive street protests. The 66-year-old daughter of a former dictator was dismissed in March 2017 and has now been in custody for almost a year. “We ask the court to hand down 30 years in prison […]
US should lower ‘threshold for talks’ with N. Korea: Seoul
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged the United States to “lower the threshold for talks” with North Korea on Monday as his aides held rare talks with a Pyongyang general on ways to defuse tensions. Moon has sought to use the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday to open dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang in the hopes of easing a nuclear standoff that has sparked global security fears. […]
Indonesian maid’s death highlights failure to protect helpers
by Sam Reeves / with Kiki Siregar in Jakarta Agence France Presse KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Trafficked to Malaysia, forced to sleep outside with a dog before dying from serious injuries -– the latest abuse case involving an Indonesian maid highlights a failure to protect domestic helpers despite repeated government pledges, critics say. Adelina Sau died earlier this month in hospital a day after being rescued from her employer’s house in Malaysia’s […]
Ex-Trump campaign aide Gates pleads guilty to conspiracy, lying
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump’s former campaign deputy Rick Gates pleaded guilty Friday to fraud and lying, pledging to assist special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s probe into alleged campaign collusion with Russian interference in the 2016 election. Gates was the third former Trump aide to agree to cooperate in exchange for reduced charges by Mueller, who is also examining whether the president illegally sought to obstruct the probe. The plea deal in […]
After shooting, Florida to station police officer at every school
by Leila Macor with Chris Lefkow in Washington Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A police officer will be stationed at every public school in Florida, the state’s governor announced Friday as part of a plan to improve security following last week’s deadly high school shooting. President Donald Trump repeated his call, meanwhile, for arming some of America’s teachers and claimed the controversial proposal was increasingly drawing support. The push to make […]
Australia’s embattled deputy PM accused of sexual harassment
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s embattled deputy leader Barnaby Joyce was accused of sexual harassment Friday, as pressure mounted on him to quit as the controversy over an affair with a now-pregnant former aide showed no sign of abating. Joyce, whose National Party rules alongside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberals, has been front-page news in Australia for two weeks since it emerged he had left his wife of 24 years for his younger former media […]
Twitter sets crackdown on automated ‘bot’ accounts
by Glenn Chapman Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCICSCO, United States (AFP) — Twitter announced Wednesday a crackdown on accounts powered by software “bots” which can artificially amplify a person or cause and which have been accused of manipulating the social network during the 2016 US election. The San Francisco messaging platform said the move was intended to rid the service of spam-spewing automated accounts, and not aimed at people using the service according to the rules. […]





