Korea lifts ban on Russian ship's departure after probe

South Korea on Tuesday lifted a ban on the departure of a blacklisted Russian ship that it seized last week in the southern port city of Busan, following an investigation, Seoul's foreign ministry said.      The Sevastopol was barred from leaving the country on Sept. 28 under a UN sanctions resolution after entering the country's biggest port for repairs on Aug. 13, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.   The Sevastopol (Yonhap)    "We have lifted the ban on the vessel as in our probe we

Oct. 2, 2018

Japan not budging on flag dispute: Korean ministry

The Japanese government is maintaining its plan to fly the controversial Rising Sun flag during an upcoming navy event in South Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.    Japan's Self-Defense Forces will send a warship to the International Fleet Review to be held at a military port on Jeju Island next week. (Yonhap)    At issue is its plan to hoist the flag, which South Koreans regard as a symbol of Japan's imperialistic past.     The matter has caused another diplomatic stand-off between

Oct. 2, 2018

Japan woman held over keeping baby body in locker ‘for years’

TOKYO (AFP) --  Tokyo police said Tuesday they had arrested a 49-year-old woman suspected of dumping a stillborn baby‘s body in a coin locker, amid reports she had moved the corpse around for as many as five years.　“The suspect... left and abandoned the body of an infant inside the locker,” near Uguisudani Station, a Tokyo police spokeswoman told AFP, with the latest incident occuring around September 13. People walk in the streets of Shinjuku district of Tokyo (Yonhap)　According to local media,

Sept. 25, 2018

China says can‘t hold US trade talks with ’knife to the throat‘

BEIJING (AFP) -- China said on Tuesday it was impossible to hold trade talks with the United States while Washington is imposing tariffs that are like “holding a knife to someone‘s throat”.　Speaking a day after Washington activated tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, vice commerce minister Wang Shouwen said China is open to negotiations but that the two sides must treat each other “equally and with respect”.　“Now that the US has adopted this type of large-scale trade restrictions, they’re

Sept. 25, 2018

Instagram co-founders resigning: report

SAN FRANCISCO, (AFP) -- Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger are leaving the smartphone photo-sharing service bought by Facebook six years ago for a billion dollars, the New York Times reported late Monday citing unnamed sources.　Systrom and Krieger have resigned from their posts as chief executive and chief technology officer respectively, not giving reasons and saying they planned to take time off, according to the Times.　Facebook did not respond to a request for comment. FILE

Sept. 25, 2018

After North Korea, Trump targets Iran with ‘maximum pressure’

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- One year after mobilizing the international community against North Korea, Donald Trump is trying to force another arch enemy to the negotiating table by targeting Iran with a similar campaign of “maximum pressure.”　But if North Korea‘s leader Kim Jong Un has seen his standing with the US president transformed in the 12 months since Trump’s United Nations debut, theprospects of Hassan Rouhani undergoing a similar transformation appear far from clear.　In his debut speech b

Sept. 25, 2018

EU announces legal entity to maintain business with Iran

The European Union said Monday it would set up a legal entity to preserve oil and other business with Iran, in a bid to evade US sanctions after President Donald Trump withdrew from a nuclear agreement.　(Yonhap)The European Union and Iran, along with Russia and China, said they were determined to “protect the freedom of their economic operators to pursue legitimate business with Iran” in a statement issued after high-level talks at the United Nations. (AFP)

Sept. 25, 2018

Two confirmed deaths in Philippines super typhoon: police

MANILA (AFP) -- Two women were killed Saturday in a landslide set off by Super Typhoon Mangkhut, Philippine police said, the first reported deaths in the massive storm. A man is hit by a wave while attempting to recover salvageable materials in Manila Bay, Manila, Philippines, Saturday. (Yonhap)　Officers in the city of Baguio recovered the women‘s bodies from the soil and rubble after a hillside collapsed from the typhoon’s heavy rains, said police Superintendent Pilita Tacio.

Sept. 15, 2018

Scientists: World’s warming; expect more intense hurricanes

WASHINGTON (AP) --  A warmer world makes for nastier hurricanes. Scientists say they are wetter, possess more energy and intensify faster.Their storm surges are more destructive because climate change has already made the seas rise. And lately, the storms seem to be stalling more often and thus dumping more rain.Study after study shows that climate change in general makes hurricanes worse. But determining the role of global warming in a specific storm such as Hurricane Florence or Typhoon Mangkh

Sept. 15, 2018

Pope in Sicily to honour priest killed by mafia

PALERMO, Italy  (AFP) -- Pope Francis visits the Italian island of Sicily on Saturday to pay homage to a priest murdered by the mafia 25 years ago after trying to save youngsters in poor neighbourhoods from falling into their hands.　The Argentinian pontiff‘s visit will be brief but is part of a wider campaign he has been waging against organised crime. 　He is expected to arrive in Palermo at 10:45 am (0845 GMT) and will say mass, then head to the Palermo parish where Father Giuseppe “Pino” Pugli

Sept. 15, 2018

US calls UN meeting on undermining North Korea sanctions

The United States has called an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council for Monday in response to what it says are efforts by some countries “to undermine and obstruct” sanctions against North Korea.　 　The U.S. Mission announced Friday evening that the meeting will “discuss the implementation and enforcement of U.N. sanctions on North Korea.”　 　The mission didn‘t name any countries, but U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley accused Russia on Thursday of pressuring an independent panel of U.N. experts

Sept. 15, 2018

Ex-UN climate chief faces trial in India for sexual offenses

An Indian court ruled there is enough evidence to send India‘s former U.N. climate chief Rajendra Pachauri to trial on charges of stalking and sexual harassment in a case filed by a former female colleague in New Delhi.　 　Magistrate Charu Gupta set Oct. 20 for pretrial proceedings.　 　Lawyer Ashish Dixit, who represented Pachauri before the magistrate on Friday, said there was no case against him and he will fight the charges during the trial, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. 　  In

Sept. 15, 2018

Ferocious typhoon plows through rain-soaked Philippines

Typhoon Mangkhut slammed into the Philippines‘ northeastern coast early Saturday, its ferocious winds and blinding rain ripping off tin roof sheets and knocking out power, and plowed through the agricultural region at the start of the onslaught.　 　The typhoon made landfall before dawn in the coastal town of Baggao in Cagayan province on the northern tip of Luzon Island, a breadbasket of flood-prone rice plains and mountain provinces often hit by landslides. More than 5 million people were at ris

Sept. 15, 2018

Hundreds of firefighters to head to Utah to fight wildfire

PANISH FORK, Utah (AP) -- A raging Utah wildfire driven by high winds in dry terrain has the potential to decimate hundreds of homes if firefighters cannot get a handle on it in the next couple of days, the governor said Friday.　 　Gov. Gary Herbert, who spoke at the fairgrounds in Spanish Fork after getting a briefing from fire officials, said the terrain, visibility and wind are making things difficult.　 　“Boy, if you‘ve got any sway with the man upstairs, let’s see what we can do to help with

Sept. 15, 2018

Korean tourist found dead on Indonesian island

A South Korean tourist who had went snorkeling near Indonesia’s Lombok Island was found dead on the beach of the outlying Gili Trawangan Island. Another Korean tourist is missing. According to local police in Lombok on Thursday, the body of the 19-year-old was found by another tourist on Gili Trawangan on Wednesday afternoon. The victim was last seen leaving a hotel around 4 p.m. with snorkeling gear, along with a 22-year-old female friend, who is now missing.Police believe the couple could have

Sept. 13, 2018

Cheong Wa Dae downplays new book’s claims on FTA friction

Seoul’s presidential office on Wednesday declined to comment on claims regarding the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement and US military presence here, made in Bob Woodward’s new book, “Fear: Trump in the White House.”The book claims that US President Donald Trump intended to send a 180-day termination letter for the FTA, and told Moon that Seoul must pay for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system. According to the book, Trump said that South Korea was “ripping us off” and that

Sept. 12, 2018

Iran summit holds key to looming battle in Syria‘s Idlib

TEHRAN -- The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey met Friday to discuss the future of Syria as a bloody military operation looms in the last rebel-held area of the war-ravaged nation, urging militants to lay down their weapons. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a cease-fire and an end to airstrikes in the northwestern province of Idlib, something that wasn’t immediately accepted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.  (EPA-Yonhap)Instead, Puti

Sept. 7, 2018

[Newsmaker] India's Supreme Court strikes down law that punished gay sex

NEW DELHI -- India's Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a landmark victory for gay rights that one judge said would "pave the way for a better future.'' The 1861 law, a relic of Victorian England that hung on long after the end of British colonialism, was a weapon used to discriminate against India's gay community, the judges ruled in a unanimous decision. "Constitutional morality cannot be martyred at the altar of s

Sept. 7, 2018

Trump lashes out at Omarosa, calls her ‘that dog’

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump escalated his messy clash with former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman on Tuesday, referring to the longtime colleague, who had been the top African-American in his White House, as “that dog!”　 　Trump tweeted a barrage of insults Tuesday morning as Manigault Newman continued promoting her White House tell-all and releasing secret audio recordings. Her book paints a damning picture of Trump, including her claim that he used racial slurs on the set of his rea

Aug. 14, 2018

Bridge collapses in Italy during heavy storm, crushing cars

MILAN (AP) -- A bridge over an industrial area in the Italian city of Genova partially collapsed during a sudden and violent storm on Tuesday, leaving vehicles crushed in the rubble below.　Italian media reported that there were deaths, but Maria Luisa Catalano, a police official in Genoa, said that authorities were still involved in rescue efforts and did not yet know the number of victims or injured.　The disaster occurred on a highway that connects Italy to France and other vacation resorts on

Aug. 14, 2018