Japan, US planning Secretary of State Rubio visit in July, Kyodo reports
TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - Japan and the United States are arranging for U.S. Secretary of State Rubio to visit Japan for the first time in early July, Kyodo news agency reported on Friday, citing a Japanese government official.
Rubio is also planning to visit South Korea alongside attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers' meetings in Malaysia in July, Kyodo quoted the government official as saying.
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The Herald Scotland
4 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump basks in another peace deal, this one in eastern Africa
"First time in many years, they're going to have peace. It's a big deal," Trump said at a June 27 news conference. Rubio will host a signing ceremony between Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe at the Department of State immediately beforehand on June 27. The seizure of large parts of eastern Congo by the M23 rebel group has killed more than 7,000 people this year alone and displaced more than 450,000 others. The area is home to the DRC's valuable mineral deposits. The U.N. Security Council called on Rwanda to end its support for the rebels in a February resolution that urged the two countries to reengage in diplomatic talks. Rwanda denies backing the rebels. The Biden administration sought to resolve the conflict but was unable to secure a deal before the one-term president left office. Trump's administration hopes the resolution will bring about an end to a broader conflict that has resulted in the displacement of more than 7 million people. Conflict in eastern Congo over in the three decades since the Rwandan genocide has led to an estimated 6 million deaths. More than 18,000 Congolese refugees resettled in the U.S., in 2023, according to the Department of Homeland Security. It was the leading country of nationality for refugees accepted by the United States that year and over the preceding decade. State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Piggott said at a June 26 briefing the signing is a "significant milestone" but "peace on paper must be matched by implementation on the ground." The State Department spokesman said the agreement includes respect for territorial integrity, a prohibition of hostilities, disarmament, the return of refugees and internally displaced persons and a regional economic framework. Congolese refugees in America: They fled genocide, hoping to find safety in America. They found apathy. The deal is central to the administration's approach to conflict reduction around the globe. By enabling and facilitating economic investment in war-torn countries such the DRC and Ukraine, the Trump administration hopes it can unlock lasting peace agreements. "A durable peace in the Great Lakes region will open the door for greater U.S. and broader Western investment, which will bring about economic opportunities and prosperity," Rubio said on April 25 as he announced the framework agreement. "It's, as they call it, a win-win for everyone involved." Businessman Massad Boulos, the administration's senior advisor for Africa and father-in-law of the president's younger daughter, Tiffany Trump, is working to secure a critical minerals deal with the DRC that could billions in U.S. investment to the country. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has substantial reserves of gold, cobalt, and high-grade copper that have been inaccessible due to the security risks and underdeveloped infrastructure, the International Trade Administration says. Cobalt is used to make the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that are used in electric vehicles, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
South Korea ex-President Yoon probed over failed martial law bid
SEOUL, June 28 (Reuters) - South Korea's former President Yoon Suk Yeol answered a summons on Saturday by a special prosecutor under a threat of another arrest as an investigation intensified over the ousted leader's failed bid to impose martial law in December. Yoon, through his lawyers, has protested the special prosecutor's demands to appear for questioning under media attention as a violation of his rights and a tactic to publicly humiliate him. His lawyers said in a statement Yoon would respond to the investigation on Saturday and tell the truth. They described the investigation as "politically motivated" and "full of falsehood and distortion". Yoon did not answer questions from reporters as he entered the special prosecutor's office. The martial law attempt in December shocked a country that had prided itself on becoming a thriving democracy, having overcome military dictatorship in the 1980s. Yoon was later oustered in April by the Constitutional Court that upheld his impeachment by parliament. The special prosecutor sought a warrant to arrest Yoon for refusing to answer repeated summons earlier, but it was rejected by a court this week on grounds that he has since expressed willingness to cooperate. The special prosecutor was appointed in early June and has launched a team of more than 200 prosecutors and investigators to take over ongoing investigations of Yoon, a former top prosecutor who was elected president in 2022. Yoon is already on trial for leading the December 3 martial law declaration. He had been arrested in January after resisting authorities armed with a court warrant trying to take him into custody, but was released after 52 days on legal technicalities.
The Sun
10 hours ago
- The Sun
World Health Organisation admits they STILL have no idea what caused Covid pandemic – but refuses to rule out lab leak
A LEADING theory that the Covid pandemic originated from a lab leak in China cannot be ruled out, the World Health Organisation said. A team of experts set up by the WHO in 2021 to investigate Covid's origins said 'all hypotheses remain on the table' - while also accusing Beijing of not giving up critical information. 7 7 7 The Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (Sago) said on Friday that most data suggests the idea that the virus jumped from animals to humans. This is the same conclusion the WHO came to in 2021. Watch the documentary in full on our YouTube channel here Their new report made the bombshell claim that a lab leak theory should "not be ruled out". But they added: "Nor can it be proven until more information is provided." Group chair Marietjie Venter said after three years of investigating, they were unable to come to a certain conclusion of the pandemic's origins. They blasted China for not releasing all necessary data to determine Covid's creation - despite hundreds of requests for genetic sequences and biosecurity information to the government. She Venter: "Therefore, this hypothesis could not be investigated or excluded. "It was deemed to be very speculative, based on political opinions and not backed up by science." Venter said the 27-member group could not reach a unanimous conclusion on Covid's origins, following one member's resignation earlier this week. Three other scientists also asked for their names to be removed from the new report. I was in Oval Office with Trump at start of pandemic - no one was closer to Chinese officials than me & I believe Covid was engineered in lab Covid-19 emerged just eight miles from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Scientists there had been importing and manipulating bat coronaviruses and had been filmed handling animals with inadequate protection. Venter added that there was no evidence proving Covid was created in a lab, nor was there any indication it was spreading before December 2019 anywhere outside of China. She said: "Until more scientific data becomes available, the origins of how SARS-CoV-2 entered human populations will remain inconclusive." Beijing has consistently refused to release full details about the lab in Wuhan, despite repeated requests for information from multiple countries. 7 7 7 It comes after The Sun's explosive Covid lab leak documentary laid bare the mounting evidence and disturbing questions surrounding the virus's emergence in Wuhan - home to China's most secretive bio-research facility. In April, the US unveiled a bombshell new web page on the origins of Covid, blaming the Wuhan Institute of Virology for unleashing the killer virus. And in a fresh propaganda push, Beijing insisted "substantial evidence" showed Covid "might have emerged in the United States earlier than its officially-claimed timeline, and earlier than the outbreak in China". The document - titled Covid-19 Prevention, Control and Origins Tracing: China's Actions and Stance - was released via China's official Xinhua news agency. It unashamedly accused the US of "indifference and delayed actions" during the global Covid fight - and of scapegoating China to deflect from its own "mismanaged" response. It wrote: "The US has made China the primary scapegoat for its own mismanaged COVID-19 response." The report added that America was 'spreading misinformation' and wasted 'precious time China had secured for the global fight against the pandemic". It revived Beijing's long-standing claims that it shared information with the world in a "timely manner". The paper added: 'The US should not continue to 'pretend to be deaf and dumb', but should respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community.' In May Donald Trump banned all US funding for risky virus research in China and beyond, five years after Covid-19 upended the planet. The US President said in the Oval Office last month: 'I said that right from day one it leaked out — whether it was to the girlfriend or somebody else, [a] scientist walked outside to have lunch with the girlfriend or was together with a lot of people — but that's how it leaked out in my opinion." The Sun's investigation into the origins of Covid 'Smoking gun' docs show US scientists planned to make viruses in Wuhan with SAME features of Covid year before outbreak Pentagon was told SIX times that Covid was lab leak at start of pandemic – but buried the truth, ex-intel official says US government backed shock Wuhan lab plan to collect 500,000 viruses months before Covid… and KNEW it was dangerous Wuhan Covid 'lab leak' firm given $60m US taxpayer funding for MORE virus tests Covid was 'perfectly adapted' to infect humans when virus emerged in Wuhan which 'proves' lab leak Bombshell clues that 'prove' China hid Covid lab leak in 'cover up of the century worse than Watergate' Crumbling sewers, no PPE, & filthy cages – Inside 'chaotic & crowded' Wuhan labs which may have unleashed Covid Wuhan Covid 'lab leak' scientists were 'bitten by bats & sprayed with blood' China's OWN scientists discussed 'problems' with Wuhan lab days after Covid outbreak Secret memo shows how panicked China ordered labs to destroy Covid samples Wuhan lab chief 'ordered scientists not to talk about Covid origins ' in leaked email France 'warned Wuhan lab could be turned into a 'biological arsenal' by Chinese military four years before Covid 'leak'
