THE White House insisted Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un had a constructive meeting in Vietnam even though the US president and North Korean leader cut short the summit without an agreement.
Trump said North Korea wanted him to lift US sanctions in exchange for denuclearisation but he was not willing to do that, telling reporters: “Sometimes you have to walk.”
However, he said Kim had assured him he will continue to hold off on nuclear and missile tests. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said it had been a “very good and constructive meeting” and discussed ways to advance “denuclearisation and economic-driven concepts”.
Both leaders’ motorcades roared away from the central Hanoi summit site within minutes of each other after a lunch and a signing ceremony were scrapped.
A PLEDGE has been given by Pakistan to release a captured Indian fighter pilot in a bid to ease tensions between the two countries over the disputed region of Kashmir.
Prime Minister Imran Khan told Pakistan’s parliament he tried to reach his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Wednesday with a message that he wants to de-escalate tension. “We are releasing the Indian pilot as a goodwill gesture tomorrow,” Khan said. He did not say if there were conditions. There was no immediate reaction from India.
UN-backed investigators say Israeli soldiers intentionally shot children, people with disabilities and journalists and may have committed crimes against humanity during crackdowns against Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza that left 189 people dead last year. Israel rejected the report as “hostile, false and biased”.
An independent commission of inquiry mandated by the Human Rights Council said the 189 were civilians who did not pose an imminent threat. All but six were shot with live ammunition. Alluding to Israeli soldiers, commission member and Bangladeshi lawyer Sara Hossain said: “We are saying they intentionally shot children, people with disabilities and journalists.”
The panel said Israel needed to do more to allow the injured to gain access to proper medical care, and urged Israel’s government to authorise a “meaningful” investigation into the events.
THE European Commission has issued a formal rebuttal to claims by the Hungarian government that the EU is promoting mass migration. In a point-by-point statement, the commission says it does not plan to introduce resettlement quotas and is working hard to defeat human trafficking.
EU spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said Hungarian citizens “deserve fact not fiction”.
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