North Korea offers more talks after nuclear no-deal in Hanoi

HANOI, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – North Korea on Friday promised further negotiations with the US, as both sides sought to hold open the door while staking out their positions after their Hanoi summit spectacularly failed to produce a nuclear deal. The second meeting between the North’s leader Kim Jong Un…

Bolivia: Pres Morales slams ‘drums of war’ against ally Venezuela

LA PAZ, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Bolivia’s President Evo Moralessaid the “drums of war” were damaging Latin America and lashed outat US “aggression” targeting his Venezuelan ally Nicolas Maduro. “In recent weeks, we have seen the serious damage caused by the drums ofwar,” Morales told a meeting of European and…

Ex-judge guilty in Argentina of cover-up in 1994 Jewish bombing probe

BUENOS AIRES, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The former Argentine judge who led the probe into the deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires was jailed for his role in a cover-up Thursday, but the country’s former president Carlos Menem was acquitted. Juan Jose Galeano — who for…

Shadowy group declares ‘government-in-exile’ for North Korea

SEOUL, March 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A shadowy group believed to be protecting the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s assassinated brother declared the formation of a government-in-exile Friday, dedicating itself to the abolition of the “great evil”. The Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) organisation — which offers to…

Olympics: Tokyo 2020 venues to be 100 percent smoke-free – organisers

TOKYO, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — All the venues for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be 100 percent smoke-free, the organisers said. The ruling is part of dramatic changes taking place in Japan, which lags many countries in efforts to fight smoking, with attempts to tackle tobacco often…

Malaysian policeman detained for allegedly trying to smuggle 47 pangolins into Thailand

SONGKHLA (Thailand), March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Malaysian policeman was detained for allegedly trying to smuggle 47 pangolins worth more than 1 million baht (US$31,700) into Thailand. The 27-year-old man arrived at Thailand’s Sadao Customs House early on Thursday, said Sadao customs chief Siripong Wuttinam. Upon checking the car, officers found a number of sacks containing…

Update: After attacks, MSF suspends Ebola treatment in epicenter of Congo outbreak

KINSHASA, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has suspended medical activities at the epicenter of an Ebola epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo after two of its facilities were torched by unidentified assailants, the French charity said. Two MSF facilities treating Ebola patients in North Kivu province were…

South Korea’s Moon says Seoul will help US, North Korea talks ‘by any means’

SEOUL, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in said South Korea will cooperate with the United States and North Korea to help their stalled talks reach a complete settlement. A second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed on Thursday over sanctions against Pyongyang. The…

Taliban says held ‘extensive talks’ with US officials, to reconvene on Saturday

DOHA, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Taliban and American officials holding talks in Qatar on ways to end the war in Afghanistan have held “extensive” discussions on how foreign troops could be withdrawn and on how to guarantee the country would not be used again by outside forces to attack other…

Indonesia, Australia to sign trade deal next week: Ministry

JAKARTA, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A long-awaited trade deal between Indonesia and Australia will be signed next week, Jakarta said, after months of diplomatic tension over Canberra’s contentious plan to move its embassy to Jerusalem. Indonesian trade minister Enggartiasto Lukita and his Australian counterpart Simon Birmingham are set to sign the…