Azerbaijan to host multiculturalism forum

This year marks the “Year of Multiculturalism” in Azerbaijan, a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. To celebrate the initiative, launched by the government of President Ilham Aliyev, Baku will host the seventh Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilization under the theme of “Living together in inclusive societies” from April 25-27. As the highest profile event of the alliance organization, the venue will gath

Feb. 14, 2016

Korea urges Japan to stop provocation on Dokdo

South Korea called on Japan Friday to stop its provocative territorial claim to Dokdo, a set of rocky islets in the East Sea.Dokdo is South Korea's territory that fell prey to Japan's aggression and occupation of the Korean Peninsula during its militaristic past, the Foreign Ministry in a statement.It was responding to reports that the Japanese government plans to send a vice minister-level official to a controversial event organized by local authorities in connection with Dokdo.The Japanese pre

Feb. 12, 2016

China FM voices 'serious concern' over possible deployment of U.S. shield in Korea

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed "serious concern" over a decision by South Korea to begin formal talks with the United States to adopt an advanced U.S. missile defense system, according to China's foreign ministry on Friday. Wang conveyed the concern to South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se during their meeting in Munich on the sidelines of international talks on Syria on Thursday, the Chinese ministry said in a statement. "Minister Wang Yi expresses serious concern," the stateme

Feb. 12, 2016

Several U.S. states seek to block 2nd trimester abortion method

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Abortion opponents in Mississippi, West Virginia and several other states are filing bills to ban an abortion procedure commonly used in the second trimester that opponents describe as dismembering a fetus.Courts have already blocked similar laws that Kansas and Oklahoma enacted in 2015.The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents abortion providers in legal fights, says banning the dilation and evacuation method of abortion -- commonly called "D&E"

Feb. 11, 2016

94 year old former Auschwitz guard goes on trial in Germany

DETMOLD, Germany (AP) -- A 94-year-old former Auschwitz guard went on trial Thursday on 170,000 counts of accessory to murder in western Germany, accused of serving in the death camp at a time when hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews were gassed.Former SS Sgt. Reinhold Hanning maintains that he served in a part of the Auschwitz camp complex where no gassings were taking place. Prosecutors argue that all guards helped the camp function, and that during the so-called "Hungarian action" in 1944

Feb. 11, 2016

Park to meet with Obama, Abe: report

The leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan plan to hold a meeting in Washington in the coming weeks to discuss ways to increase pressure on North Korea, a news report said Thursday.The three countries began to work out the details for a trilateral summit during the Nuclear Security Summit, Japan's Jiji Press reported, citing an unidentified Japanese official.U.S. President Barack Obama is set to host a fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit from March 31 to April 1 in Washington.T

Feb. 11, 2016

Abbas due in Seoul next week

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas will visit South Korea next week for talks with President Park Geun-hye on improving bilateral ties, the Foreign Ministry announced Thursday.He is scheduled to make a three-day trip here starting Wednesday after traveling to Japan, it said.In his second visit to South Korea after the previous one in 2010, Abbas plans to meet with Park, National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa, and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.His upcoming trip is expected to serve as an opportuni

Feb. 11, 2016

Russia demands Seoul's apology over suspicions Russia provided Pyongyang with missile components

Russia has demanded an apology from South Korea for raising suspicions that key components of North Korea's recently tested rocket are from Russia.Mikhail Ulyanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's nonproliferation and arms control department, said in a news conference Wednesday that South Korea should present evidence backing up the suspicions or retract them and apologize."This statement is irresponsible and unprofessional. One cannot come forward with such accusations without having

Feb. 11, 2016

China protests S. Korea's decision on U.S. missile shield

China summoned South Korea's ambassador on Sunday to protest Seoul's decision to begin talks with Washington on the deployment of an advanced American missile defense system to South Korea following the North's long-range rocket launch.Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin summoned the South Korean ambassador to China, Kim Jang-soo, and lodged representations to Kim over the decision, China's foreign ministry said in a brief statement. Hours after North Korea claimed it had successfully put

Feb. 8, 2016

China voices 'deep concern' about possible deployment of U.S. missile system

China's foreign ministry expressed "deep concern" on Sunday as Seoul and Washington agreed to begin talks on the deployment of an advanced American missile defense system to South Korea following the North's long-range rocket launch. Hours after North Korea claimed it had successfully put a satellite into orbit, South Korea and the U.S. announced that they would begin talks on the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to South Korea. The launch is widely viewed as

Feb. 8, 2016

U.S. ship capable of tracking N.Korea rocket arrives in Japan

A U.S. radar ship capable of tracking North Korean missiles has arrived in Japan, an official said Friday, as the communist nation is forging ahead with preparations for a banned long-range rocket launch.The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen "made a scheduled port visit" to the port of Sasebo near the Korean Peninsula "as part of the ship's routine presence and operations in the region," Cmdr. Bill Clinton, the spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, told Yonhap News Agency.The arrival coincides with heightened

Feb. 6, 2016

Xi-Park call shows China still unprepared to act differently with N.K.: U.S. expert

The first phone call between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping since the North's nuclear test appears to show that Beijing is still unprepared to act differently in its handling of Pyongyang, a U.S. expert said.In the 45-minute call initiated by Xi, Park asked for Chinese cooperation in efforts to put together U.N. sanctions strong and effective enough to make North Korea change its course, saying North Korea's provocations pose threats to peace in Northeast A

Feb. 6, 2016

Obama, Xi agree on importance of 'strong, united' response to N. Korea

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone Friday and agreed on the importance of a "strong and united international response" to North Korea's provocations, the White House said.It was the first that the two leaders have spoken since the North's Jan. 6 nuclear test. The conversation also came amid mounting calls for China to use more of its leverage with Pyongyang to rein in its recalcitrant neighbor."Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the complete and

Feb. 6, 2016

Satellite imagery shows fuel tanker trucks at N. Korea's rocket launch pad

Recent satellite imagery shows the arrival of tanker trucks at the launch pad of North Korea's rocket site in an indication that the communist nation is forging ahead with a planned rocket launch, a North Korea-monitoring website said Friday.The imagery taken of the North's Sohae or Dongchang-ri site on Wednesday and Thursday showed the tanker trucks at the old fuel and oxidizer bunkers, 38 North said in a report, adding that the trucks' presence more likely indicates the filling of tanks within

Feb. 6, 2016

No breakthrough in Park-Xi conversation on N. Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping's rare phone call to his South Korean counterpart, Park Geun-hye, underscores growing concerns over North Korea's defiant pursuit of missile and nuclear programs.It marked the first time that a Chinese leader has held a telephone conversation with a South Korean president over a North Korean nuclear test. No consultations were held between the leaders of the two neighbors when North Korea carried out three previous nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.Park is the fir

Feb. 6, 2016

U.S. declines comment on Park-Xi discussions on N. Korea

The United States declined comment Friday on a phone conversation between President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping in which the Chinese leader repeated calls for dialogue to resolve tensions on the Korean Peninsula without mentioning sanctions on North Korea."We are not going to comment on conversations that took place between China and ROK," Katina Adams, a spokesperson at the U.S.State Department, said in response to a request for comment from Yonhap News Agency.It was the firs

Feb. 6, 2016

Xi calls for no nukes, no war on Korean Peninsula

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that there should be neither nuclear weapons nor war on the Korean Peninsula as he spoke by phone with President Park Geun-hye for the first time since the North's nuclear test last month.Xi also said that all relevant parties should deal with the situation in a "cool-headed" manner from the perspective of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula while sticking to the principle of dialogue and negotiations, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry."Un

Feb. 6, 2016

U.N. chief meets with Korean official in London

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with a high-ranking South Korean official in London and discussed ways to help resolve the humanitarian crisis in Syria, Seoul officials said Friday.The meeting with Lee Suk-joon, a lead officer for government policy coordination at the prime minister's office, took place on the sidelines of an international donors' conference on Thursday, according to the Prime Minister's Office.Ban expressed hope that the Seoul government will continue to provide aid to t

Feb. 5, 2016