Oct 17, 2019   World

[Graphic News] S. Korea’s passport ranks 3rd most powerful

　The South Korea passport has nearly topped the list as the world’s most powerful, offering citizens access to 188 countries without a visa in advance, tying it with Germany and Finland, according to the Henley Passport Index. 　Singapore and Japan shared the No. 1 spot with access to 190 countries.　Denmark, Italy and Luxembourg hold the next spot with 187 countries, while France, Sweden and Spain ranked one lower with 186 countries, according to the report.

Oct 17, 2019   World News

US's Pence and Pompeo head to Turkey seeking ceasefire

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departed for Turkey on Wednesday, seeking to secure a ceasefire in the Turkish invasion of northern Syria."Our mission set is to see if we can get a ceasefire, see if we can get this brokered," Pompeo told reporters on his plane.Pence and Pompeo, who travelled on different planes, were scheduled to hold talks on Thursday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but Erdogan has said he will not meet

Oct 17, 2019   World News

US-China trade mini-deal being 'papered': Trump

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The partial trade bargain struck last week with China is now being formally put down in writing, US President Donald Trump said Wednesday."It hasn't been papered yet but it is being papered," Trump told reporters at the White House.He insisted that China had already bought $40 to $50 million worth of American agriculture products last week.He reiterated that China committed to greater purchases of US farm exports, and made concessions because of economic pressure by

Oct 17, 2019   World News

Japanese minister visits Tokyo war shrine

TOKYO (AFP) -- A Japanese minister on Thursday visited the Yasukuni war shrine at the centre of long-running tensions with regional neighbours -- the first cabinet-level official visit in over two years.Seiichi Eto, the minister in charge of Okinawa and what Japan calls "the Northern Territories" disputed with Russia, visited the shrine at the start of its annual autumn festival, an official at Eto's office told AFP.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meanwhile continued his recent practice of s

Oct 17, 2019   World Business

SoftBank bailout would give it control of WeWork: sources

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Japan's SoftBank Group has prepared a financing plan that would give it control of WeWork as the office sharing startup seeks badly- needed financing, sources told AFP Monday.The plan would give SoftBank, which is controled by billionaire Masayoshi Son, more than 50 percent of WeWork and further limit the influence of former chief executive and co-founder Adam Neumann, said sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.Neumann stepped down as chief executive in September amid

Oct 16, 2019   World News

[Graphic News] Hong Kong protesters, police in chaotic clashes　

　Hong Kong has been battered by more than four months of pro-democracy protests - and increasingly violent clashes with police - with Beijing-backed Chief Executive Carrie Lam unable to resolve the unprecedented crisis.　　Hong Kong officials have revealed that out of 2,379 protesters arrested since June, 750 were under 18 and 104 under 16.　The subway system - viewed as an enemy for ferrying police and shuttering stations - has been crippled, with some 2,400 ticketing machines and turnstiles vanda

Oct 16, 2019   World News

US House passes Hong Kong 'Democracy Act'

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill sought by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong that aims to defend civil rights in the semi-autonomous territory.The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which will now move to a similar vote in the Senate before it can become law, has drawn rare bipartisan support in a polarized Congress.Its passage is likely to further aggravate China which has accused "external forces" of fuelling weeks of unrest in t

Oct 16, 2019   World News

Erdogan says Turkey 'can never declare ceasefire' in north Syria

ISTANBUL (AFP) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed a US proposal to broker a ceasefire in northern Syria and said he was not worried over US sanctions, in comments published in Turkish media Wednesday.He also said the Syrian army's entry into the flashpoint northern Syrian city of Manbij was not a "very negative" development for his country as long as the region is cleared of Syrian Kurdish fighters."They tell us 'to declare a ceasefire'. We can never declare a cea

Oct 15, 2019   World News

Hungary police refer cruise ship captain in deadly boat sinking to prosecution

Hungarian police have referred to the prosecution the captain of a cruise ship that sank and caused dozens of South Korean deaths in May in Budapest, recommending indictment for negligence and other charges, officials said Tuesday.　Wrapping up a roughly four-month-long probe into the accident, the Budapest police announced the results of its investigation into Yuriy C., the captain of the Switzerland-registered cruise ship, Viking Sygin, according to the officials.  　He is accused of causin

Oct 15, 2019   World News

Texas police officer charged with murder for shooting black woman

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A white policeman who shot dead a black Texas woman as she played video games at home with her young nephew has been charged with murder, police said Monday.Aaron Dean gunned down 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson from outside her Fort Worth property in the early hours of Saturday as she approached a window to investigate noises outside.The incident, less than two weeks after a white policewoman was jailed for killing a black man in his apartment in nearby Dallas, has spark

Oct 15, 2019   World News

US trio win Nobel Economics Prize for work on poverty

STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- A trio of Americans on Monday won the Nobel Economics Prize for their work in the fight against poverty, including Esther Duflo, the youngest-ever economics laureate and only the second woman to win the prize.Duflo -- a 46-year-old French-American professor who has served as an advisor to ex-US president Barack Obama -- shared the Nobel with her husband, Indian-born Abhijit Banerjee and fellow American Michael Kremer "for their experimental approach to alleviating global

Oct 15, 2019   World News

US slaps sanctions on Turkey as Syrian regime returns to north

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States slapped sanctions on Turkey Tuesday as it demanded an end to its deadly incursion against Syrian Kurdish fighters, accusing its NATO partner of putting civilians at risk and allowing the release of Islamic State extremists.The actions came hours after regime troops returned for the first time in years to parts of northeastern Syria, invited by Kurdish fighters desperate for protection as the United States pulls out.President Donald Trump took extraordinary m