President Donald Trump has backtracked on his administration’s plans to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons within a year, announcing on Tuesday that there is now “no time limit” on the denuclearisation of Kim Jong-un’s regime. Speaking to reporters during a meeting with members of Congress at the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump…
More than 210,000 people have signed a petition on the web site of the South Korean president’s office demanding that an “abominable” gay pride festival scheduled to take place in central Seoul this weekend be cancelled. The three-day Seoul Queer Culture Festival is marking its 19th anniversary this year and will include art exhibitions and…
With its head and snout covered in bony armor shaped like cones and pyramids, a spiky tank-like dinosaur unearthed in southern Utah was not just another pretty face. Scientists on Thursday announced the discovery of fossils of a dinosaur named Akainacephalus johnsoni that lived 76 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. It was a…
Israel’s parliament has passed a divisive law declaring that only Jews have the right to “national self-determination” in Israel, prompting angry accusations from Arab citizens that the government is formally codifying racism. The law, known as the nation state bill, passed by a narrow 62-55 margin early on Thursday morning after hours of fractious debate…
Dozens of Syrians approached the Israeli frontier on the Golan Heights on Tuesday in an apparent attempt to seek help or sanctuary from a Russian-backed Syrian army offensive, before turning back after a warning from Israeli forces. Tens of thousands of Syrians have arrived near the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in the past month, fleeing a…
The North Korean restaurant manager who defected from China with 12 female staff in 2016 has claimed that he was tricked into fleeing to South Korea and later blackmailed by Seoul’s intelligence services. The claims by Ho Kang-il, made in an interview with Yonhap News Agency, add weight to suggestions that the 13 North Koreans…
As the world waits for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s first bilateral summit in Helsinki, Washington and Moscow have both been playing down the possibility of any major breakthroughs. Mr Putin’s spokesman said on Monday that the leaders wouldn’t make a joint statement — the two sides have disagreed over mentioning Russia’s electoral interference — and the “fact of…
Pakistan has launched its largest ever polling day security operation amid fears voting in Wednesday’s general election will be a target for militant attacks. More than 370,000 military personnel deployed to guard 85,000 polling stations for the closely fought contest. The poll for 106 million eligible voters comes after a bloody campaign which has seen…
Consecrated virgins say they are "disappointed" by the Vatican’s new guidance that literal virginity is not necessary. A document released earlier this month says that a woman does not need to have "kept her body in perfect continence" to become a consecrated virgin. The Vatican document, entitled Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, says that the "call to…
American pop star and actress Demi Lovato has been rushed to hospital in Los Angeles after a reported heroin overdose. The 25-year-old former judge on American X Factor was said to have been found unconscious at her Hollywood Hills home. Lovato, who has been candid about her struggles with cocaine abuse and self harm, was…