UNITED STATES
Officials meet in Panmunjom
A delegation met yesterday and Sunday with North Korean officials in Panmunjom truce village between South and North Korea to make preparations for a summit between US President Donald Trump and North leader Kim Jong-un, a US Department of State spokeswoman said. “A US delegation is in ongoing talks with North Korean officials at Panmunjom,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Sunday. A “pre-advance” team of officials was also traveling to Singapore to meet with North Koreans there, the White House said.
NEW ZEALAND
Mass cow cull planned
The government yesterday said it plans to slaughter about 150,000 cows in a bid to eradicate a strain of disease-causing bacteria from the nation. Politicians and industry leaders said the plan would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and, if successful, would be the first time an infected nation has eliminated Mycoplasma bovis. The bacteria, which cause cows to develop mastitis, pneumonia, arthritis and other diseases, was discovered in the country for the first time in July last year. Officials say they plan to kill all cows on any farms where the bacteria are found, even if some are healthy. Officials have the legal authority to forcibly enter farms and kill animals even in cases where a farmer might resist, but they said they hope they do not have to use those powers. Many of the cows will be slaughtered at processing plants and used for beef, but some will have to be killed and buried on the farms or dumped in approved landfills.
PAKISTAN
Interim leader named
The ruling party and the opposition have selected a former chief justice as the nation’s caretaker prime minister for an interim two-month period. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, whose term ends on Thursday when the parliament is to be dissolved ahead of elections scheduled for July 25, and opposition leader Khursheed Shah announced that Nasir-ul-Mulk has been appointed caretaker. Mulk is expected to sworn in on Friday.
ISRAEL
World Cup TV ban mulled
Minister of Public Security Gilad is seeking to ban Palestinian prisoners who are members of Hamas from watching the upcoming World Cup, he said on Sunday. “I have no intention of letting Hamas members who are detainees in our prisons enjoy the World Cup matches while we have Israeli hostages and soldiers in the Gaza Strip,” Erdan said, as quoted by the YNet news Web site. He said he had asked the Israel Prison Service to “put pressure” on jailed members of Hamas. Under current rules, prisoners have the right to watch television, but Erdan said he was checking to see if regulations could be changed in time for the World Cup. Prisoners who “support terrorism cannot benefit from a sporting competition which unites populations,” he said.
JAPAN
Elderly driver kills one
A woman was killed yesterday and three others injured as a car driven by a 90-year-old driver ploughed into pedestrians in Chigasaki, officials said. The car mounted the curb near a busy crossroads, hitting four pedestrians, a police spokesman said. “One female victim was later confirmed dead and three others — two women and one man — were injured,” he added.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
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