North Korean leader desires for ‘new history of national reunification’ in meeting with Seoul envoys

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center right, and his wife Ri Sol Ju, center left, meet members of South Korean delegation in what was described as a “co-patriotic and sincere atmosphere” in this photo provided by Pyongyang. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Updated 06 March 2018
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North Korean leader desires for ‘new history of national reunification’ in meeting with Seoul envoys

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had an “openhearted talk” in Pyongyang with envoys for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the North said Tuesday.
It’s the first time South Korean officials have met with the young North Korean leader in person since he took power after his dictator father’s death in late 2011 — and the latest sign that the Koreas are trying to mend ties after a year of repeated North Korean weapons tests and threats of nuclear war.
North Korea’s state media said Kim expressed his desire to “write a new history of national reunification” during a dinner Monday night that Seoul said lasted about four hours.
Given the robust history of bloodshed, threats and animosity on the Korean Peninsula, there is considerable skepticism over whether the Koreas’ apparent warming relations will lead to lasting peace.
North Korea, some believe, is trying to use improved ties with the South to weaken US-led international sanctions and pressure, and to provide domestic propaganda fodder for Kim Jong Un.
But each new development also raises the possibility that the rivals can use the momentum from the good feelings created during North Korea’s participation in the South’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics last month to ease a standoff over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and restart talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
The North Korean report sought to make Kim look statesmanlike as he welcomed the visiting South Koreans, with Kim offering views on “activating the versatile dialogue, contact, cooperation and exchange.”
He was also said to have given “important instruction to the relevant field to rapidly take practical steps for” a summit with Moon, which the North proposed last month.
Moon, a liberal who is keen to engage the North, likely wants to visit Pyongyang. But he must first broker better ties between the North and Washington, which is Seoul’s top ally and its military protector.
The role of a confident leader welcoming visiting, and lower-ranking, officials from the rival South is one Kim clearly relishes. Smiling for cameras, he posed with the South Koreans and presided over what was described as a “co-patriotic and sincere atmosphere.”
Many in Seoul and Washington will want to know if, the rhetoric and smiling images notwithstanding, there’s any possibility Kim will negotiate over the North’s breakneck pursuit of an arsenal of nuclear missiles that can viably target the US mainland.
The North has repeatedly and bluntly declared it will not give up its nuclear bombs. It also hates the annual US-South Korean military exercises that were postponed because of the Olympics but will likely happen later this spring. And achieving its nuclear aims rests on the North resuming tests of missiles and bombs that set the region on edge.
Photos distributed by the North showed a beaming Kim dressed in a dark Mao-style suit and holding hands with Moon’s national security director, Chung Eui-yong, the leader of the 10-member South Korean delegation. Chung’s trip is the first known high-level visit by South Korean officials to the North in about a decade.
The South Korean delegates have another meeting with North Korean officials on Tuesday before returning home, but it’s unclear if Kim Jong Un will be there.
Kim was said to have expressed at the dinner his “firm will to vigorously advance the north-south relations and write a new history of national reunification by the concerted efforts of our nation to be proud of in the world.”
There is speculation that better inter-Korean ties could pave the way for Washington and Pyongyang to talk about the North’s nuclear weapons. The United States, however, has made clear that it doesn’t want empty talks and that all options, including military measures, are on the table.
Previous warming ties between the Koreas have come to nothing amid North Korea’s repeated weapons tests and the North’s claims that the annual US-South Korean war games are a rehearsal for an invasion.
Before leaving for Pyongyang, Chung said he would relay Moon’s hopes for North Korean nuclear disarmament and a permanent peace on the peninsula.
Chung’s delegation includes intelligence chief Suh Hoon and Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung. The South Korean presidential Blue House said the high-profile delegation is meant to reciprocate the Olympic trip by Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, who became the first member of the North’s ruling family to come to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Kim Yo Jong, who also attended Monday’s dinner, and other senior North Korean officials met with Moon during the Olympics, conveyed Kim Jong Un’s invitation to visit Pyongyang and expressed their willingness to hold talks with the US.
After the Pyongyang trip, Chung’s delegation is scheduled to fly to the US to brief officials about the outcome of the talks with North Korean officials.
President Donald Trump has said talks with North Korea will happen only “under the right conditions.”
If Moon accepts Kim’s invitation to visit Pyongyang it would be the third inter-Korean summit talk. The past two summits, one in 2000 and the other in 2007, were held between Kim’s late father, Kim Jong Il, and two liberal South Korean presidents. They resulted in a series of cooperative projects between the Koreas that were scuttled during subsequent conservative administrations in the South.


Riyadh event highlights women’s role in diplomacy

Updated 1 min 44 sec ago
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Riyadh event highlights women’s role in diplomacy

  • Speech stresses progress made under King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

RIYADH: The Prince Saud Al-Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies in Riyadh has held a symposium to mark the forthcoming International Day of Women in Diplomacy. It was attended by Vice Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji, female diplomatic leaders, and ambassadors accredited to the Kingdom.

Elkhereiji spoke of the importance of empowering women in diplomacy, citing the progress made under the leadership of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in light of the Vision 2030 reform plan.

He noted that Saudi women now serve as ambassadors, leaders, and negotiators on the global stage, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The symposium discussed efforts to support women’s diplomatic careers, the role of men in advancing change, and the unique contributions women bring to diplomacy.

Topics also included the global rise of women in diplomacy, their impact on foreign and domestic policy, and ways to enhance female participation in multilateral forums to address future challenges.


Four heavy US bombers stationed at key Indian Ocean base: image analysis

Updated 8 min ago
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Four heavy US bombers stationed at key Indian Ocean base: image analysis

  • The Pentagon said it was sending 'additional capabilities' to the Middle East amid an escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict

PARIS: Four US Stratofortress bombers are currently stationed at the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, according to an AFP analysis of satellite imagery, as the conflict between Israel and Iran extended to its fifth straight day.
The base, leased to the United States by Britain, is one of its key military facilities in the Asia-Pacific region, and was used as a hub for long-range bombers and ships during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The four B52H Stratofortresses, which can carry nuclear weapons or other precision-guided munitions, were spotted on a southern tarmac at Diego Garcia on Monday at 0922 GMT.
Images provided by Planet Labs indicate they arrived in mid-May.
A C-17 Globemaster III troop and cargo transport plane is also at the base, according to the AFP analysis, as well as six jets likely to be KC-135 airborne refueling tanker.
The Pentagon said Monday that it was sending “additional capabilities” to the Middle East amid an escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, while the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz canceled a Vietnam visit to head toward the Indian Ocean according to Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking site.
Washington has also redeployed around 30 refueling planes toward bases in Europe.


US spies said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon, Trump dismisses that assessment

Updated 36 min 3 sec ago
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US spies said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon, Trump dismisses that assessment

  • The country was not building a nuclear weapon, the national intelligence director told lawmakers
  • Gabbard brushed off the inconsistency, blaming the media for misconstruing her earlier testimony and asserting that “President Trump was saying the same thing that I said“

WASHINGTON: Tulsi Gabbard left no doubt when she testified to Congress about Iran’s nuclear program earlier this year.

The country was not building a nuclear weapon, the national intelligence director told lawmakers, and its supreme leader had not reauthorized the dormant program even though it had enriched uranium to higher levels.

But President Donald Trump dismissed the assessment of US spy agencies during an overnight flight back to Washington as he cut short his trip to the Group of Seven summit to focus on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

“I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters. In his view, Iran was “very close” to having a nuclear bomb.

Trump’s statement aligned him with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has described a nuclear-armed Iran as an imminent threat, rather than with his own top intelligence adviser. Trump was expected to meet with national security officials in the Situation Room on Tuesday as he plans next steps.

Gabbard brushed off the inconsistency, blaming the media for misconstruing her earlier testimony and asserting that “President Trump was saying the same thing that I said.”

“We are on the same page,” she told CNN. Asked for comment, Gabbard’s office referred to those remarks.

In her March testimony to lawmakers, Gabbard said the intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.”

She also said the US was closely monitoring Iran’s nuclear program, noting that the country’s “enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.”

Trump’s contradiction of Gabbard echoed his feuds with US spy leaders during his first term, when he viewed them as part of a “deep state” that was undermining his agenda. Most notably, he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 when asked if Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election, saying Putin was “extremely strong and powerful in his denial.”

The latest break over Iran was striking because Trump has staffed his second administration with loyalists rather than establishment figures. Gabbard, a military veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, was narrowly confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate because of her scant experience with intelligence or managing sprawling organizations.

Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022 and endorsed Trump in last year’s election, is expected to testify Tuesday in a closed session on Capitol Hill, along with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, during a previously scheduled budget hearing.

Both officials likely would face questions about their views on Iran and Trump’s latest statements. A representative for the CIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that Iran has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs should it choose to do so. Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful.

An earlier intelligence report, compiled in November under then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, also said Iran “is not building a nuclear weapon.”

However, it said the country has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce one, if it so chooses,” such as increasing stockpiles of enriched uranium and operating more advanced centrifuges. The report did not include any estimates for a timeline for how quickly a bomb could be built.

Trump’s immigration agenda is another place where he’s split with intelligence assessments. He cited the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law, to deport Venezuelan migrants, which he justified by claiming that the Tren de Aragua gang was coordinating with the Venezuelan government. However, an intelligence assessment in April found no evidence of that.

Gabbard fired the two veteran intelligence officers who led the panel that created the assessment, saying they were terminated because of their opposition to Trump.

In response to those reports, the White House released a statement from Gabbard supporting the president.

“President Trump took necessary and historic action to safeguard our nation when he deported these violent Tren de Aragua terrorists,” the statement said. “Now that America is safer without these terrorists in our cities, deep state actors have resorted to using their propaganda arm to attack the President’s successful policies.”


Pakistan court delivers first-ever conviction for insider trading 

Updated 17 June 2025
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Pakistan court delivers first-ever conviction for insider trading 

  • SECP says bank official misused insider information related to investment, disinvestment decisions for “personal gain“
  • Financial regulator says court slaps $30,380 penalty on convict, with the amount to be deposited within seven days

KARACHI: A Pakistani court recently handed its first-ever conviction for insider trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) said on Tuesday, hailing the judgment as one which will boost investors’ confidence in the country’s capital markets. 

Insider trading refers to the practice of buying or selling a publicly traded company’s securities while in possession of material information that is not yet public information. The SECP said it had filed a case against Zakir Hussain Somji, assistant vice president of investments at Habib Metropolitan Bank (HMB) Limited, after inspecting suspicious trading activity from Jan. 1, 2014, to Feb. 2, 2016.

The regulator said it was suspected that the accused, through his position at HMB, misused insider information related to the bank’s investment and disinvestment decisions for personal gain. The SECP said a probe revealed Somji bought 11,795,100 shares of various companies, including 1,230,900 shares (10.43 percent) acquired from HMB. He sold 11,836,600 shares — 4,915,200 (41.52 percent) of which were sold back to HMB, earning an “unlawful profit” of Rs2,866,646 [$10,116.39]. 

“Sindh Special Court (Offences in Banks) handed out first ever conviction for insider trading in the history of Pakistan in a case filed by The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP),” the regulator said. 

It said Somji had been convicted by the court on June 14 for violating provisions of Section 128 of the Securities Act, 2015, which related to insider trading. 

The regulator said the court slapped Somji with a penalty of Rs 8,599,938 [$30,380] which was three times the “unlawful gain.”

“The amount is to be deposited within seven days, failing which the convict will be remanded to jail until full payment is made,” the SECP said. 

The regulator said the judgment reaffirms SECP’s mandate to ensure market integrity and investor protection.

“It sets a strong precedent for future enforcement actions and sends a clear message that market abuse and regulatory violations shall not be tolerated,” it added. 
 


Atmosphere for Chelsea’s Club World Cup opener a bit strange, says Maresca

Updated 17 June 2025
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Atmosphere for Chelsea’s Club World Cup opener a bit strange, says Maresca

  • “It was a good match, a good performance,” Maresca told reporters
  • “I think the environment was a bit strange. The stadium was almost empty. Not full“

LOS ANGELES: Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said the atmosphere at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was “a bit strange” as his side began their Club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC in front of swathes of empty seats.

The multi-purpose stadium has a 71,000 capacity but Monday’s group stage match, which kicked-off at 3 p.m., attracted little over 22,000 spectators.

Atlanta is over 2,000 miles (3,220 km) away from Los Angeles, where Major League Soccer club LAFC are based.

“It was a good match, a good performance,” Maresca told reporters. “I think the environment was a bit strange. The stadium was almost empty. Not full.”

The Italian expected more fans to be in attendance when they take on Brazilian side Flamengo at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Friday.

“We prepared for this game also thinking that the environment was a bit different,” Maresca said.

“But no doubt that the next one will be a nice one because we know that the Brazilian team, they always bring many, many fans. So we will try to be ready for the next one.”

Maresca was asked about what impact he expects from forward Liam Delap, who joined the club for around 30 million pounds from Ipswich Town ($40.73 million) on a six-year deal.

Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu are already options for the number nine shirt at Chelsea but the 22-year-old Englishman wasted no time in showcasing his potential, setting up Enzo Fernandez for their second goal on Monday.

“I am curious to see how Nico reacts (to Delap),” said Maresca. “He competed with Guiu, who is very young, during the season. They are both good number nines.”

Chelsea are level with Flamengo at the top of the group after the Brazilians beat Esperance de Tunis 2-0.