South Korea has acknowledged its officials attended a secret meeting with North Korean officials in Beijing, but challenged details in Pyongyang’s account of the meeting. Unification Minister Hyun In-taek was questioned about the meeting in parliament Thursday, a day after the North’s official KCNA news agency provided an account of last month’s meeting. KCNA said […]
Seoul Acknowledges Secret Beijing Meeting With North Korea
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 3:50 am (UTC-5)
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Honduras Readmitted to OAS
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 3:35 am (UTC-5)
The Organization of American States has voted to readmit Honduras following an almost two-year suspension that followed the ouster of the country’s then-president, Manuel Zelaya, in a June 2009 coup. The Washington-based organization Wednesday lifted the suspension after a 32-1 vote in which only Ecuador opposed the move. The vote follows an agreement last month […]
Chinese Crime Wave Reported After Pre-Universiade Crackdown
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 3:35 am (UTC-5)
Chinese state media say residents are reporting increased crime in the southern city Dongguan, which has become a haven for thousands of people expelled from the nearby city of Shenzhen ahead of an international sporting event. The Communist Party-controlled Global Times said Tuesday that more than 80,000 “high-risk” people have been expelled from Shenzhen in […]
Russia Bans Vegetable Imports from EU
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 3:10 am (UTC-5)
Russia has banned the import of all fresh vegetables from the European Union as authorities try to determine the source of an E. coli outbreak that has killed 17 people, mostly in Germany. Russia said Thursday that vegetables already imported from EU countries would be seized. The chief of Russia’s consumer protection agency, Gennady Onishchenko, […]
Kan Offers Future Resignation as Party Faces Possible Defeat
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 2:40 am (UTC-5)
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan offered to resign in the coming months, speaking hours before a parliamentary vote that failed to bring down his government. Mr. Kan said at a meeting of his Democratic Party of Japan Thursday that he would like to hand over power to a younger generation once the prospects for dealing […]
Japan’s Nikkei Plunges
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 2:25 am (UTC-5)
Japanese markets closed lower Thursday, while the U.S. dollar is virtually unchanged against the Japanese yen. Tokyo’s Nikkei index dropped nearly one and three-quarter percent to finish at 9,555. In currency trading, the dollar was selling at 80.93 yen. The Taipei market closed at 8,991, a loss of more than three-quarters of one percent .
Xinhua President Calls for Global “Media UN”
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 2:05 am (UTC-5)
The president of China’s official Xinhua news agency is calling for the formation of a new non-governmental organization to coordinate the world’s news media, serving as a sort of media United Nations. In an opinion article in the New York-based Wall Street Journal, Xinhua President Li Congjun argues that the rules and practices governing the […]
Pakistani General Rules Out North Waziristan Offensive
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 1:55 am (UTC-5)
Officials in northwestern Pakistan say militants have killed at least 23 security forces in an attack on a checkpoint that has lasted for more than a day. The attack began Wednesday in the town of Shaltalo, when police say about 200 militants crossed the border from Afghanistan’s Kunar province into Pakistan’s Dir tribal area. It […]
US: Authorities Execute 20th Prisoner This Year
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 1:30 am (UTC-5)
U.S. authorities have carried out the 20th execution this year of a condemned prisoner. Prison officials in Texas executed Gayland Bradford, a 42-year-old man convicted of the 1988 killing of a security guard during a grocery store robbery in which he and a partner fled with only $7. Bradford had spent 22 years on death […]
Contaminated Water Poses Latest Threat at Japanese Nuclear Plant
Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 1:30 am (UTC-5)
Workers at Japan’s crippled nuclear plant are urgently seeking new places to store highly radioactive water as levels rise toward ground level in utility trenches near two reactors. The Tokyo Electric Power Company said Wednesday that water levels were less than 35 centimeters from the top of the trenches. Japanese media said the levels continued […]
