SOUTH KOREA
Officials to meet on N Korea
Officials from the US, South Korea and Japan are to hold a meeting on North Korea next week in Tokyo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Friday. The three countries have been discussing ways to break a standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, which have drawn international sanctions. Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Noh Kyu-duk is to travel to Japan today for a three-day visit, the ministry said in a statement.
UNITED STATES
Attacker to be released
A Wisconsin woman who admitted to helping stab a classmate to please online horror character Slender Man is to be freed tomorrow from a mental health institution under strict conditions, a judge ruled on Friday. Anissa Weier, 19, is to be released after spending almost four years at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh. A conditional release plan calls for her to live with her father, submit to around-the-clock GPS monitoring and receive psychiatric treatment, among other things. She will not be allowed to use the Internet except at home, and the state Department of Corrections will monitor her online activity.
ITALY
Tornado kills two people
A tornado hit the Sicilian island of Pantelleria on Friday, killing two people and seriously injuring four, the Civil Protection Department said. The whirlwind “hit and overturned six cars,” the department said in a post on Facebook, with photographs showing one vehicle thrown against a house and another lying battered in a field. It said an off-duty fireman was among the dead on the tiny volcanic outcrop, a tourist hotspot that is to North Africa than Italy. The wind ripped down a coastal road in seconds, according to media reports. “It was an apocalyptic sight,” an unnamed paramedic at the scene told ANSA news agency. A hospital helicopter from nearby Lampedusa island was ready to provide assistance once the weather improved, it said.
MEXICO
Landslide kills at least one
Rescuers yesterday planned to resume the search for victims of a landslide that brought tonnes of massive boulders down on a steep hillside neighborhood outside Mexico City, killing at least one person and leaving 10 missing. The operation is complicated by the sheer size of the rocks that cleaved from the peak known as Chiquihuite on Friday afternoon, the narrow paths of the neighborhood largely inaccessible to heavy machinery and the instability of the exposed mountain face looming above. The landslide in Tlalnepantla followed days of heavy rain and a magnitude 7 earthquake on Tuesday in Acapulco that swayed buildings 320km away in the capital.
UNITED STATES
Twitch suing two users
Twitch is suing two users in federal court, accusing them of orchestrating “hate raids” spewing abuse at video gameplay streamers who are not white or straight. The Amazon-owned platform is seeking unspecified cash damages from the pair, identified in the lawsuit as a Netherlands resident behind the account “CruzzControl” and a Vienna resident with a “CreatineOverdose” account. Last month, CruzzControl and CreatineOverdose “began coordinating attacks on Twitch’s streamers by raiding their channels and spamming those communities with hate,” Twitch said in the lawsuit filed on Thursday in San Francisco.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
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