The half-brother of North Korea's leader expressed fears for his life months before he was assassinated in Malaysia in a Cold War-style hit, a court heard Tuesday. The chilling new detail emerged at the trial of two women, Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam, who are accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13 last year. Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, center, is escorted by police as she arrives for a court hearing at Shah Alam High Court

North Korea Feb. 27, 2018

Japan has reported a fresh suspected sanctions violation by Pyongyang to the UN after spotting an apparent cargo transfer involving a North Korean tanker, the Japanese foreign ministry said Tuesday.The statement came after US President Donald Trump rolled out what he called the "heaviest sanctions ever" levied on the Pyongyang regime, designed to put the squeeze on North Korea's already precarious economy and fuel supply. The screenshot snapped Tuesday by Yonhap News Agency at the Japanese Forei

North Korea Feb. 27, 2018

BERLIN -- A South Korean director in the eye of a #MeToo storm defiantly rejected abuse accusations against him at the Berlin film festival Saturday, saying he ensures no one “suffers” on the sets of his ultraviolent, sexually explicit art movies.Acclaimed filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, who has picked up prizes at the Cannes, Venice and Berlinale festivals, faced a barrage of questions from reporters about allegations of physical and sexual abuse by an actress he worked with in 2013. Director Kim Ki-duk

Film Feb. 18, 2018

Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu clinched the first back-to-back men's Olympic figure skating title in more than six decades on Saturday to cement his status as the "Ice Prince" of the modern era.The 23-year-old superstar made light of a three-month injury hiatus to emulate American Dick Button, who won gold in 1948 and 1952.Hanyu led a Japanese one-two as Shoma Uno took silver, ahead of Spain's Javier Fernandez with bronze. (AFP)"I'm relieved to be able to skate here as a lot of people supported me," Hanyu

Olympic Games Feb. 17, 2018

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency on Friday, a move capping a tumultuous week that saw the prime minister resign, a strike in the country's largest region and a massive prisoner amnestyCiting a decision by the council of ministers, the the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation said: "A state of emergency has been declared as of now."It gave no timeline for the emergency decree, the second since 2016, which was announced in a statement read by an anchor on the state broadcaster.The communique e

World News Feb. 17, 2018

A strong earthquake shook southern and central Mexico Friday, causing panic -- but no major damage, according to early reports -- less than six months after two devastating quakes that killed hundreds of people.Both Mexico's National Seismological Service and the US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.2.It triggered Mexico City's alarm system and caused buildings to sway in the capital. It was also felt in the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Puebla and Michoacan.Panicked residents

World News Feb. 17, 2018

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- Defending champion Mikaela Shiffrin vomited and complained of virus-like symptoms after a disappointing first leg in Friday's Olympic slalom.Shiffrin, who claimed gold in Thursday's giant slalom, finished fourth and said she had vomited at the start gate."Not very well," she said when asked how she felt at the start."I don't know, it was kind of sudden. It almost felt like a virus kind of puking, less about nerves."USA's Mikaela Shiffrin reacts after competing in

More Sports Feb. 16, 2018

PARKLAND, US (AFP) - A former student armed with an AR-15 rifle opened fire at a Florida high school on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people, officials said, in a harrowing shooting spree that saw terrified students hiding in closets and under desks as they texted for help.　Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel identified the gunman as Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland who had been expelled for “disciplinary reasons.”　Cruz was arrested without

World News Feb. 15, 2018

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- Olympics chief Thomas Bach on Monday dismissed concerns that North Korea has tried to “hijack” the Winter Games for political purposes, as officials revealed he will visit the isolated country after the tournament in South Korea.Bach said he regarded North Korea’s participation purely in sporting terms despite the rapid round of diplomacy between the two Koreas during the opening days of the Games.“This is about sport and this the IOC made very clear,” Bach told

North Korea Feb. 12, 2018

TAIPEI, Taiwan --  A 6.4-magnitude quake on the east coast of Taiwan has left two dead and more than 200 injured, the government said, after buildings crumbled and trapped people inside. A hotel and an apartment block were the worst hit by the quake in the port city of Hualien, according to the national fire agency. Five more buildings including a hospital have also been damaged with roads strewn with rubble, cracks along highways and damaged buildings tilted at angles.The worst-hit Marshal Hote

World News Feb. 7, 2018

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 blue dot indicating the islands in the Sea of Japan controlled by South Korea but claimed by Tokyo. (yonhap)They

Foreign Affairs Feb. 5, 2018

Germany's domestic intelligence agency chief has revealed North Korea has been acquiring equipment and technology for its nuclear and weapons programmes through its Berlin embassy.BfV head Hans-Georg Maassen said: "We have noticed that so many procurement activities have taken place from the embassy.""From our point of view, they were for the missile programme but also partly for the nuclear programme," Maassen added in an interview with German public television channel ARD, to be aired on Monda

North Korea Feb. 4, 2018

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday lifted life bans on 28 of the 43 Russians accused of doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.In a decision that could allow some of them to compete in this month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, sport's top court ruled there was "insufficient" evidence that the athletes had benefited from a system of state-sponsored doping at the last Winter Games, hosted by Russia. This file photo taken on December 12, 2017 shows a man talking on the phone in fro

Olympic Games Feb. 1, 2018

WASHINGTON -- Amid nuclear tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, US President Donald Trump took the extraordinary step of honoring a North Korean defector Tuesday as he delivered his State of the Union speech before Congress.Ji Seong-ho, who escaped from North Korea in 2006, was given a place of honor just seats away from First Lady Melania Trump, as the president told the his story to lawmakers near the end of his 80-minute speech.Trump recounted the suffering of Seong-ho, who had a foot a

North Korea Jan. 31, 2018