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SINGAPORE (AFP) — An establishment stalwart was named Singapore’s first female president Wednesday but the milestone was overshadowed by criticism her selection was undemocratic after she was handed the job without a vote. Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the Muslim Malay minority, did not have to face an election for the largely ceremonial post originally due this month after authorities decided her rivals did not meet strict eligibility criteria. It was not the […]
by Hwang Sunghee Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea vowed Wednesday to accelerate its weapons programs in response to the “evil” sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council following its latest and most powerful nuclear test. The respected 38 North website in the US raised its estimate for the yield from the explosion, which Pyongyang says was a hydrogen bomb small enough to fit onto a missile, to around 250 […]
SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) — South Korea said on Wednesday (September 13) traces of radioactive xenon gas were confirmed to be from a North Korean nuclear test earlier this month, but it was unable to conclude whether the test had been for a hydrogen bomb as Pyongyang claimed. North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on September 3, prompting the United Nations Security Council to step up sanctions with a ban on the reclusive regime’s […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP)–North Korea on Tuesday blasted “vicious” sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council over its latest and most powerful nuclear test, threatening revenge against Washington, who it blamed for leading the charge. “Yesterday the Washington regime fabricated the most vicious sanctions resolution,” Pyongyang’s ambassador in Geneva told the UN Conference on Disarmament in the first North Korean reaction to Monday’s unanimous vote. “My delegation condemns in the strongest terms and categorically rejects the latest illegal […]
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singaporeans Tuesday poured scorn on the process to select their new president after an establishment figure was deemed the only eligible candidate, meaning no election will be held. Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the city-state’s Muslim Malay minority, will be the first woman to hold the largely ceremonial role if — as expected — she is formally nominated to the presidency Wednesday. But the 63-year-old will avoid an election […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has concluded that radiation levels remain normal in the provinces near the North Korean border after Pyongyang’s most powerful nuclear test yet spurred concerns of residual environmental damage. The Ministry of Environmental Protection announced Sunday it was ending its emergency radiation monitoring in response to the blast last week, which the North claimed was the successful detonation of a hydrogen bomb. “A comprehensive assessment has concluded that this DPRK nuclear […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea warned on Monday it would inflict “the greatest pain and suffering” on the United States if Washington persists in pushing for harsher UN sanctions following Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test. The September 3 detonation was the country’s largest and prompted global outrage, with the UN Security Council set to discuss a new draft resolution presented by Washington that would be the toughest-ever imposed against the isolated regime. The US […]
(Reuters) — North Korea’s ambassador to Mexico on Friday (September 08) said its tensions with the US were not Mexico City’s business, after President Enrique Pena Nieto ordered he leave the country in protest at Pyongyang’s nuclear tests. In a statement, the Mexican government said it had given Ambassador Kim Hyong Gil 72 hours to leave Mexico in order to express its “absolute rejection” of North Korea’s recent nuclear activity, describing it as a […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Qatar’s ruler phoned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to express interest in talks to resolve a three-month-old diplomatic crisis, Saudi state media said early Saturday. The crown prince “welcomed this desire,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, adding “details will be announced after Saudi Arabia reaches an agreement with UAE and Bahrain and Egypt”, the Arab bloc that cut ties with Qatar in June. The phone call by Qatar’s […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Irma has been downgraded to a Category Four hurricane but is still extremely dangerous, the National Hurricane Center said on Friday. The storm raging in the Caribbean which is en route to Florida is now packing maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour (250 kilometres per hour), the agency said its 0900 GMT update. That is down from speeds of 185 mph when Irma was at its peak […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping told Donald Trump Wednesday that Beijing remains committed to denuclearizing North Korea as the United States president warned again that any Pyongyang threat would trigger an “overwhelming” response. In a phone call with Trump, Xi also said China remains firm in its wish to resolve the issue through talks leading to a peaceful settlement, state news agency Xinhua reported, as tensions soared over North Korea’s pursuit of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said military action against North Korea was not the “first choice” of his administration Wednesday, edging away from his harshest threats against the regime in Pyongyang. After a phone call with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on how to deal with North Korea’s threatening nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Trump did not rule out military strikes, saying “we will see what happens.” But, he indicated, other avenues for […]
