Delegates to North Korean disarmament talks said yesterday they were approaching the final stages of discussions, but that a resolution to the dispute over the communist nation's nuclear weapons program lay ultimately in its own hands.
Envoys from the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia were reviewing the latest draft of principles crafted by host China meant to move the stalled negotiations forward. However, the heads of delegations did not have a group meeting, the US Embassy said, making it unlikely that a conclusion to negotiations was imminent.
Negotiators agreed to meet again today, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It did not give any details.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top US envoy, said earlier Wednesday that agreeing to the text is something North Korea is "going to decide on their own. They're not going to listen to pressure from me."
"In a very real sense, [North Korea] really does stand at a crossroads and they can look forward to a brighter future, a more secure future, a more prosperous future," Hill said. "But they really can't do it with nuclear weapons. They've really got to get off that."
Hill said Tuesday evening that the talks could break off without an agreement, giving time for the sides to return to their capitals for more consultation before the six nations convene again.
It wasn't clear when the talks -- now lasting three times longer than three previous rounds -- would end. Hill said Tuesday it may be a matter of days.
He held one-on-one talks Wednesday with several delegations, but not the North Koreans, the US Embassy said.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a