WASHINGTON/SEOUL: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed any diplomatic negotiations with North Korea, saying “talking is not the answer,” one day after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan that drew international condemnation.
Renewing his tough rhetoric toward North Korea, Trump wrote on Twitter, “The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!“
Trump, who has vowed not to let North Korea develop nuclear missiles that can hit the mainland United States, said in a statement on Tuesday that “all options are on the table.”
North Korea said the launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Tuesday was to counter US and South Korean military drills and was a first step in military action in the Pacific to “contain” the US island territory of Guam.
The United Nations on Tuesday condemned as “outrageous” North Korea’s firing of the missile over Japan, demanding that the isolated country halt its weapons program but holding back on any threat of new sanctions.
A US Congressional Research Service report said between 1995 and 2008, the United States provided North Korea with over $1.3 billion in assistance. Slightly more than 50 percent was for food and about 40 percent for energy assistance. The assistance was part of a nuclear deal that North Korea later violated.
Since early 2009, the United States has provided virtually no aid to North Korea, though periodically there have been discussions about resuming large-scale food aid.
The latest tweet by the Republican US president drew criticism from Democrats in Washington.
Responding to Trump’s message, Senator Chris Murphy wrote on Twitter: “Bar is high, but this is perhaps the most dangerous, irresponsible tweet of his entire Presidency. Millions of lives at stake – not a game.”
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, ordered the launch to be conducted for the first time from its capital, Pyongyang, and said more exercises with the Pacific as the target were needed, the North’s KCNA news agency said on Wednesday.
“The current ballistic rocket launching drill like a real war is the first step of the military operation of the KPA in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying. KPA stands for the Korean People’s Army.
Trump’s latest comments appeared to undercut his secretaries of defense and state, who have emphasized finding a diplomatic solution to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Earlier this month Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters the US effort “is diplomatically led. It has diplomatic traction. It is gaining diplomatic results.”
North Korea this month threatened to fire four missiles into the sea near Guam, home to a major US military presence, after President Donald Trump said the North would face “fire and fury” if it threatened the United States.
For its part, the US Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency announced a “complex” and successful missile defense flight test off Hawaii early on Wednesday, intercepting a medium-range ballistic missile target.
The 15-member Security Council said it was of “vital importance” that North Korea take immediate, concrete actions to reduce tension and called on all states to implement UN sanctions.
However, the US-drafted statement, which was agreed by consensus, does not threaten new sanctions on North Korea.
Diplomats say veto-wielding council members China and Russia typically only view a test of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapon as a trigger for further possible sanctions.
China’s and Russia’s ambassadors to the United Nations said they opposed any unilateral sanctions on North Korea and reiterated calls to halt deployment of a US missile defense system in South Korea.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China was discussing the situation with other Security Council members and would make a “necessary response” based on the consensus reached. China is the North’s lone major ally.
“Any measures against North Korea should be under the UN Security Council framework, and should be carried out according to Security Council resolutions,” he told a news briefing.
Unilateral sanctions did not accord with international law, Wang added, a reference to sanctions imposed on Chinese firms and citizens by the United States and Japan.
Speaking during a visit to the Japanese city of Osaka, British Prime Minister Theresa May called on China to put more pressure on North Korea, saying Beijing had a key role to play.
Asked about her comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said some “relevant sides” were only selectively carrying out the UN resolutions by pushing hard on sanctions yet neglecting to push for a return to talks.
She said this was not the attitude “responsible countries” should have when the “smell of gunpowder” remained strong over the Korean peninsula.
“When it comes to sanctions, they storm to the front but when it comes to pushing for peace they hide at the very back,” Hua told a daily news briefing.
Tuesday’s test was of the same Hwasong-12 missile Kim had threatened to use on Guam, but the test flight took it in another direction, over northern Japan’s Hokkaido and into the sea.
North Korea has conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests under Kim in defiance of UN sanctions, but firing a projectile over mainland Japan was a rare and provocative move.
The 2,700 km (1,680 miles) that the missile flew before splashing down was much shorter and at a lower trajectory than that of an earlier launch of the same missile type.
The US Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency and the crew of the USS John Paul Jones conducted a “complex missile defense flight test” off Hawaii early on Wednesday, resulting in the intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile target, the agency said.
“We are working closely with the fleet to develop this important new capability, and this was a key milestone in giving our Aegis BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) ships an enhanced capability to defeat ballistic missiles in their terminal phase,” said agency director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves in a statement, without mentioning North Korea.
“We will continue developing ballistic missile defense technologies to stay ahead of the threat as it evolves.”
Trump says ‘talking not the answer’ on North Korea
Trump says ‘talking not the answer’ on North Korea
Indians vote early in fifth phase of polls to avoid scorching heat
MUMBAI/BHUBANESWAR: Indians began voting early on Monday in the fifth phase of mammoth general elections, with thousands queuing at polling stations to beat the scorching heat in the financial capital of Mumbai and the sprawling states of Uttar Pradesh and Odisha.
The world’s largest election began on April 19, amid high summer temperatures, with the weather office predicting more days of heatwaves than usual through the season.
Votes will be counted on June 4, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to win a rare third consecutive term.
“Given the hot and humid conditions, there could have been fans and better arrangements for the ill and those with disabilities,” said Sangeeta Rege, 46, a director at a health research organization.
She was speaking after two senior citizens collapsed at her polling station in Mumbai temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit) and humidity of 71 percent that made it difficult for many, especially the elderly, to set foot outdoors.
Nearly a billion people are eligible to vote in India’s elections, but after poor initial turnout in early phases, more exercised the franchise to take the average of the first four rounds to 66.95 percent, with 69 percent voting in the May 13 fourth phase.
Monday’s phase has the fewest constituencies going to the polls, with 89.5 million voters set to pick representatives for 49 seats.
High-profile candidates in the fray on Monday include trade minister Piyush Goyal, standing from one of six seats in Mumbai, and defense minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, both cities where there has been poor voter turnout in the past.
On Sunday, the Election Commission specifically urged residents of both cities “to erase the stigma” of urban apathy.
“At the core of our vision for Mumbai is – better infrastructure and more ‘ease of living,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while campaigning in the city last week.
GANDHI FAMILY BASTIONS
Two boroughs of the opposition Congress party’s Nehru-Gandhi dynasty are also going to the polls in the large politically crucial northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Family scion Rahul Gandhi is contesting the seat of Raebareli, in addition to Wayanad in the south, which has already voted.
Smriti Irani, minister for women and child development, is contesting from Amethi, where she defeated Rahul Gandhi in 2019, to take a seat his family held almost continuously for the last four decades.
Other keenly watched contests in the state include Kaiserganj, where the BJP is fielding the son of a former wrestling federation chief, although the father has been charged with sexually harassing female wrestlers.
Poor voter turnout became a concern for the ruling BJP initially, and analysts believe the low numbers cast doubts on the landslide victory the party and its allies sought.
But long queues snaked out of polling booths in Mumbai and Bolangir in the eastern state of Odisha after the weather department forecast maximum temperatures to rise between 2 degrees and 4 degrees Celsius.
The election aimed “to ensure stability and security ... plus development of my city and country which ... is happening at a rapid rate,” said Mumbai homemaker Jaya Roy Chowdhury, 48.
“The BJP has not fielded the right candidate for the Lok Sabha, but we are voting ... with Modi in mind,” said 55-year-old Odisha farmer Girish Mishra, referring to the lower house of parliament.
Modi, accused by opponents of targeting minority Muslims to please hard-line voters, resolved in a television interview aired after the fourth phase to “not do Hindu-Muslim (in politics).”
He has repeatedly accused the Congress of plans to extend welfare benefits to Muslims at the expense of disadvantaged tribal groups and Hindu castes, a claim the opposition party has denied.
London court set to rule on Julian Assange extradition
- The 52-year-old Australian is seeking permission to appeal against a ruling allowing him to be sent to face a US trial on espionage charges
London: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could find out on Monday whether he has won a reprieve in his last-ditch legal battle to avoid extradition from Britain to the United States.
The 52-year-old Australian is seeking permission to appeal against a ruling allowing him to be sent to face a US trial on espionage charges, after a long-running court saga.
Two London High Court judges handling Assange’s request adjourned the case in March, asking US government lawyers to give “satisfactory assurances” about free speech protections and that he would not face the death penalty if convicted.
Those submissions are expected to be presented at a hearing on Monday, and the judges could rule immediately afterwards.
If successful, Assange will be able to go back to domestic UK courts.
If he loses, Assange could be swiftly extradited after a five-year legal battle that has pitted the Washington and London governments against free-speech campaigners.
Assange’s only hope would then be to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, which could order a stay on the extradition if it decides there are “exceptional circumstances.”
It would also require London to accept the order. This is uncertain because of a separate dispute with the European court which blocked the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Dozens of Assange supporters gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London early Monday, many wearing T-shirts bearing Assange’s face.
“This man’s life is at stake,” 83-year-old sculptor Jenny West told AFP.
“He represents all other journalists, it’s a pressing humanitarian situation,” she added.
Assange has been detained in the high-security Belmarsh Prison in London since April 2019.
He was arrested after spending seven years holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that were eventually dropped.
US authorities want to put the publisher on trial for divulging US military secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange is accused of publishing some 700,000 confidential documents relating to US military and diplomatic activities, starting in 2010.
The United States has accused Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act, which his supporters warn mean he could be sentenced to 175 years in prison.
UK courts approved the extradition request after the United States vowed that Assange would not go to its most extreme prison, “ADX Florence,” nor to subject him to the harsh regime known as “Special Administrative Measures.”
His supporters have criticized the legal proceedings he has faced.
“It is abundantly clear of course that the process in the court in the United Kingdom is corrupt. The case is rigged against Julian,” Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief, told reporters last Wednesday.
Stella Assange said she hoped her husband would be present at Monday’s hearing but added that she did not expect the judges to rule in his favor.
“I don’t expect a rational outcome from the courts, I’m afraid to say,” she said.
Assange’s supporters say his health is fragile and the Council of Europe this week voiced concern about his treatment.
The United States indicted Assange multiple times between 2018 and 2020 but President Joe Biden has faced domestic and international pressure to drop the case filed under his predecessor Donald Trump.
Biden indicated recently that the United States was considering an Australian request to drop the charges.
“President Biden has the chance still to be the president who put an end to this, who acted in the interest of press freedom in journalism,” said Rebecca Vincent, of Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Daesh claims attack in Afghanistan that killed 3 Spanish citizens and 3 Afghans
- The Daesh group issued statements on its Aamaq news agency late Sunday
- Seven people were wounded in the attack on Friday in on Bamiyan province, a major tourist area
ISLAMABAD: The Daesh group has claimed responsibility for an attack on foreigners in central Afghanistan last week in which three Spanish citizens and three Afghans were killed.
Seven people were wounded in the attack on Friday in on Bamiyan province, a major tourist area, according to Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the interior minister. He said seven suspects were arrested at the scene.
The Daesh group issued statements on its Aamaq news agency late Sunday that said its fighters attacked a bus carrying tourists and their guides. “The attack was in response to the IS leaders’ directions to target citizens of the European Union wherever they are found,” it said.
Spain’s Foreign Ministry said three Spaniards died and at least one more had been wounded. A Taliban official in Bamiyan, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the four wounded foreigners were from Spain, Norway, Australia and Latvia.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on social media platform X that he was “overwhelmed” by the news.
Qani said that all those who were wounded have been transferred to capital of Kabul for treatment and they are stable condition.
The Daesh group’s affiliate in Afghanistan is a major Taliban rival and its militants have attacked schools, hospitals, mosques and minority Shiite areas throughout the country.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.
The Taliban is seeking to increase the number of tourists coming to the country. In 2021, there were 691 foreign tourists; in 2022, that figure rose to 2,300; and last year, it topped 7,000.
Bamiyan was the site of two massive Buddha statues carved into a cliff between the 4th and 6th century and which were destroyed by the Taliban at Al-Qaeda’s urging in early 2001.
Separately on Monday, a hand grenade exploded in the southern city of Kandahar, killing at least one civilian and wounding three, the Kandahar police chief’s office said.
Police were investigating the explosion near the road toward Kandahar airport, the statement said. No group has taken responsibility for the blast.
India begins voting in fifth phase as Mumbai, Gandhi family boroughs head to polls
- World’s largest election began on April 19 and will conclude on June 1
- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Raebareli, Wayanad seats
MUMBAI: India began voting in the fifth phase of its mammoth general elections on Monday, with seats in the financial capital Mumbai and the opposition’s Gandhi family bastions set to be sealed in the last few legs of the seven-phase vote.
The world’s largest election began on April 19 and will conclude on June 1, with votes set to be counted on June 4.
Monday’s phase has the least number of seats being contested, with 89.5 million voters set to choose representatives for 49 seats.
Several high-profile candidates are in the fray on Monday — including defense minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow and trade minister Piyush Goyal from Mumbai — cities which have suffered from a dismal voter turnout in the past.
The Election Commission on Sunday specifically called upon residents of those cities “to erase the stigma” of urban apathy.
“At the core of our vision for Mumbai is – better infrastructure and more ‘ease of living,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while campaigning in the city last week, just days after at least 14 people were killed when a massive billboard fell during a rainstorm.
Two boroughs of the Congress party’s Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in the politically-crucial Uttar Pradesh are also going to polls, with scion Rahul Gandhi contesting the seat of Raebareli, in addition to Wayanad in the south which has already voted. India allows candidates to contest multiple constituencies but represent only one.
Sonia Gandhi, Congress party chief and former lawmaker from Raebareli, made an emotional appeal to voters asking them to vote for her son in a region that the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has dominated in the last 10 years.
Smriti Irani, minister for women and child development, is contesting from Amethi. In 2019, she defeated Rahul Gandhi in a seat his family held continuously for the last four decades.
Among other keenly watched electorates in the state is Kaiserganj, where the BJP is fielding a former wrestling federation chief’s son, despite his father being charged with sexually harassing female wrestlers.
Poor voter turnout became a concern for the ruling BJP initially, and analysts believe the low numbers cast doubts on the landslide victory the party and its allies sought.
After an initial poor performance, more people started casting their vote with an average turnout of 66.95 percent in four phases, and 69 percent in the fourth one on May 13.
Modi, widely expected to return as prime minister for a third consecutive term, has been accused by opponents of targeting minority Muslims to please hard-line voters.
Modi has repeatedly accused the Congress party of planning to extend welfare benefits to Muslims at the expense of disadvantaged tribal groups and Hindu castes, a claim the Congress has denied.
In a recent television interview aired after the fourth phase, Modi said it was his resolve to “not do Hindu-Muslim (in politics).”
The opposition INDIA alliance, consisting of Congress and a dozen political parties, got a major boost after fierce Modi critic and Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal was given temporary relief by the court and allowed to campaign in the elections.
Pope Francis calls anti-migrant attitudes at US border ‘madness’
- Record numbers of migrants fleeing poverty and violence have been seeking to enter the US, largely from Central America and Venezuela
- The matter has emerged as a top political issue in the November US election, with Biden and challenger Trum, pushing the topic front and center
WASHINGTON: Pope Francis made a foray into the US election season with a rare television interview Sunday, calling harsh anti-migrant attitudes “madness” and criticizing right-wing US Catholic figures for overly conservative stances against his social teachings.
Speaking in his native Spanish through a translator for more than an hour, Francis told CBS News program “60 Minutes” that the closing by the state of Texas of a Catholic charity offering humanitarian assistance was absurd.
“That is madness. Sheer madness. To close the border and leave them there, that is madness. The migrant has to be received,” the pope said.
“Thereafter you see how you are going to deal with him. Maybe you have to send him back, I don’t know, but each case ought to be considered humanely,” Francis said.
Record numbers of migrants have been seeking to enter the United States, largely from Central America and Venezuela, as they flee poverty, violence and disasters exacerbated by climate change.
The matter has emerged as a top political issue in the November US election, with President Joe Biden’s Republican challenger, former president Donald Trump, pushing the topic front and center.
“The globalization of indifference” on migrants, Francis said, “is a very ugly disease.”
Francis, 87, also addressed criticisms by conservative US bishops who oppose his efforts to revisit certain teachings and traditions.
A “conservative is one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that,” he said when asked about the bishops, adding “it is a suicidal attitude.”
Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has insisted on the importance of a church open to all, including member of the LGBT community, but he has faced strong resistance from conservative Catholics.
There was a particularly strong reaction when Francis opened the door to the blessing of gay couples last year, especially in African countries.
Calling gay people “a human fact,” Francis said in the interview: “To bless each person, why not? The blessing is for all.”
The pontiff also touched on the controversial topic of sex abuse within the Catholic Church.
He has made combatting sexual assault in the Church one of the main missions of his papacy, and insisted on a “zero tolerance” policy following multiple wide-reaching scandals.
“Unfortunately, the tragedy of the abuses is enormous,” he told CBS, adding that abuse “cannot be tolerated.”
“When there is a case of a religious man or woman who abuses, the full force of the law falls upon them,” Francis said.
But, he added, “there has been a great deal of progress.”
