JAPAN
Seoul trade limit lifted
The government has lifted curbs on the export of a key microchip material to South Korea, news reports said yesterday, days before the leaders of the two countries meet in their first formal talks for more than a year. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Friday removed photoresists — used to coat semiconductor circuit boards — from Tokyo’s export restrictions against Seoul, the Asahi Shimbun and other reports said. The country in July tightened export controls on three materials essential to key products of South Korean tech companies after a series of South Korean court rulings ordered Japanese firms to compensate wartime forced labor victims.
UNITED STATES
Trump touts talk with Xi
President Donald Trump touted a “very good talk” on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on a deal to resolve their trade dispute, while Chinese media said Xi had complained about US interference in Hong Kong and elsewhere. Trump tweeted that China “already started large scale” increases in purchases of US farm goods, in line with the deal. However, he did not give a date for when the so-called “phase one” agreement would actually be signed. “Formal signing being arranged,” he said. Xi welcomed the progress, state news agency Xinhua reported.
UNITED STATES
Woman runs over teenager
A Des Moines woman was charged with attempted murder after she told police that she intentionally ran over a 14-year-old girl because she believed the teenager was Mexican, authorities said on Friday. Natalia Miranda suffered a concussion and severe bruising in the attack, but is expected to make a full recovery. Nicole Marie Poole Franklin, 42, admitted to steering her sports utility vehicle onto a sidewalk on Dec. 9 in the suburban Des Moines community of Clive and running over the teenager, who was walking to school to watch a basketball game, Clive Police Chief Mike Venema told a news conference. Franklin then fled the scene.
UNITED STATES
Family finds owl in tree
A Georgia family got a real hoot from its Christmas tree: More than a week after they bought it, they discovered a live owl nestled among its branches. Katie McBride Newman said on Friday that she and her daughter spotted the bird on Thursday last week. They had bought the 3m-tall tree from a Home Depot, brought it back to their Atlanta area home and decorated it with lights and, coincidentally, owl ornaments. “It was surreal, but we weren’t really freaked out about it,” McBride Newman said. The family called a nonprofit nature center to help them release the animal.
COLOMBIA
Uber to halt operations
Uber has been told to immediately suspend its ride-sharing services in the country, the industry and commerce authority announced on Friday, citing unfair competition laws. The US tech giant has about 2 million active users in the country, and about 88,000 drivers. The ruling, which is subject to an appeal, follows a lawsuit by a group of taxi drivers who have accused the company of unfair business practices. The head of the Industry and Commerce Department — which regulates the market — said that the company must cease operations immediately, citing “unfair competition” and a “significant advantage” over older and more traditional taxi services.
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
COMFORT WOMEN CLASH: Japan has strongly rejected South Korean court rulings ordering the government to provide reparations to Korean victims of sexual slavery The Japanese government yesterday defended its stance on wartime sexual slavery and described South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese compensation as violations of international law, after UN investigators criticized Tokyo for failing to ensure truth-finding and reparations for the victims. In its own response to UN human rights rapporteurs, South Korea called on Japan to “squarely face up to our painful history” and cited how Tokyo’s refusal to comply with court orders have denied the victims payment. The statements underscored how the two Asian US allies still hold key differences on the issue, even as they pause their on-and-off disputes over historical
BEIJING FORUM: ‘So-called freedom of navigation advocated by certain countries outside the region challenges the norms of international relations,’ the minister said Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) yesterday denounced “hegemonic logic and acts of bullying” during remarks at a Beijing forum that were full of thinly veiled references to the US. Organizers said that about 1,800 representatives from 100 countries, including political, military and academic leaders, were in Beijing for the Xiangshan Forum. The three-day event comes as China presents itself as a mediator of fraught global issues including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Addressing attendees at the opening ceremony, Dong warned of “new threats and challenges” now facing world peace. “While the themes of the times — peace and development —
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