Category: World News

Iconic comedian Yoo Jae-suk wins top award, again

Comedian and TV host Yoo Jae-suk nabbed his 13th big accolade at the MBC Entertainment Awards on Thursday evening, further cementing his position as an icon of Korean onscreen entertainment. “The more prizes I receive, the more apologetic I feel,” Yoo, a 25-year comedy veteran, said in his acceptance speech upon receiving the Grand Prize at the awards ceremony held at the MBC Media Center in Sangam-dong, Seoul.

Three arrested in rosewood bust

Three Vietnamese nationals arrested for illegal transportation of Timber by Forestry Administration earlier this week and were sent to jail yesterday. Photo supplied Three Vietnamese nationals were charged and jailed yesterday for collecting and transporting more than 150kg of luxury rosewood in Preah Vihear province’s Chheb district.

Money for nothing in Siem Reap

In the tourist game, tuk-tuk drivers play an outsized role in their customers’ food and entertainment choices – and they expect to be paid. The practice of paying tuk-tuk drivers and concierges to push diners to your door is ubiquitous in Cambodia’s tourist capital, say frustrated restaurant owners, and doing no one any favours.

Chinese Muslims face further infringements of basic rights as authorities demand passports

Stand Up For Uyghur Rights Washington demonstration against Chinese President Xi Jinping visit to the US, September 25, 2015 A few weeks ago, the Uyghur Muslims experienced further discrimination, as the regional police ordered an arbitrary recall of their passports indefinitely, curtailing the citizens’ freedom to travel. Over 10 million Uyghurs in China will be affected by this policy, which had already been implemented in various counties across Xinjiang since last April.

Venezuela’s exclusion from trade summit underscores growing isolation in Latin America

It was a stark illustration of how far Venezuela’s stock has fallen in the neighborhood as its leftist government deals with economic calamity and political instability. In an incident that generated headlines here, uninvited Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez tried to crash a major trade summit at the Argentine Foreign Ministry building this month, scuffling with security personnel and threatening at one point to come in through a window if she was blocked.

China leads efforts to realize climate pact

A Moroccan policeman stands guard outside the COP22 village during the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Marrakech, Morocco, on Nov 15, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] As Confucius taught us, there are three methods to gaining wisdom.

Shrine visit unmasks Abe Cabinet’s true sentiments

US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lay wreaths at the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii on Tuesday. [Photo/Agencies] Shinzo Abe did indeed make history, of sorts, by becoming the first Japanese leader to visit the memorial above the wreckage of the USS Arizona in Hawaii and offering his “sincere and everlasting condolences” to those who died 75 years ago when Japan launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

Relations between Obama and Netanyahu administrations hit new low

It took eight years of backbiting and pretending they got along for relations between President Barack Obama ‘s administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘s government to finally hit rock bottom. Though they’ve clashed bitterly before, mostly notably over Iran, the two governments seemed further apart than ever after a speech Wednesday by Secretary of State John Kerry and last week’s United Nations resolution.

Cease-fire begins in war-ravaged Syria

A Syrian shopkeeper waits for customers next to paintings of of President Bashar Assad, and Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, center, at the Souk Tawil market in Damascus, Syria. BEIRUT – A cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey went into effect in war-ravaged Syria tonight, a potential breakthrough in the six years of fighting that have left more than a quarter-million people dead and triggered a refugee crisis across Europe.

Garbage trucks part of Times Square security

Heavily armed counterterrorism officers take shelter from the rain beneath an overhang in Times Square on Thursday in New York, as the New York Police department began ramping up security for the city’s massive New Year’s Eve celebration. Heavily armed counterterrorism officers take shelter from the rain as they stand against the front of a watch store in Times Square on Thursday in New York.

Fate of Syria Cease-fire Unclear

Osama Abu Zaid, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army rebel alliance, shows the text of the agreement about a cease-fire between Syrian opposition groups and the Syrian government during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, Dec. 29, 2016. Much remains unclear about the nationwide Syrian cease-fire Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday – a truce that Moscow says can pave the way for Russian-brokered talks on a settlement of the five-year-long war.

Love, loss on display at failed-relationships museum

After her husband asked for a divorce, Amber Clisura gave back her engagement ring, kicked him out of the house and tossed everything that reminded her of the ruined marriage. Except for one item: a polished steel barbecue smoker that her future ex-husband had fashioned for her from an old oil drum.

Ita s Not Over!Exclusive: Obama, Palestinians Plotting More Anti-Israel Action

The Palestinian Authority has been in contact with the Obama administration and European countries about the possibility of taking more UN action on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before President Obama leaves office next month, a senior PA official told Breitbart Jerusalem. The official said the UN action could come in the form of declarations by UN bodies, including the General Assembly; UN sessions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; or even another United Nations Security Council resolution.

De Blasio isn’t jumping to defend Israel after UN vote :0

Mayor de Blasio – who has repeatedly cast himself as a fierce defender of Israel – refused Thursday to take a position on the UN resolution condemning the Jewish State for expanding its settlements . “I don’t really know what I think about the details of the resolution,” the mayor said at an unrelated press conference in Times Square.

Chilean marines on trial for alleged sexual snooping

” Chile’s navy is holding a court martial for eight marines accused of making and distributing video images of female colleagues in their dormitory aboard a frigate. Defense Minister Jose Antonio Gomez says the marines would be expelled from the military if convicted and could face up to five years in prison.

Russia-Turkey cease-fire deal offers new hope for Syria

” The cease-fire agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey and approved by the Syrian government and some of its most powerful rebel opponents is a potential turning point in the Syrian civil war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and laid waste to huge parts of the country over the past six years. Thursday’s announcement comes days after government forces recaptured the northern city of Aleppo, scoring its most symbolic and strategic victory in the conflict.

Italy’s PM: Berlin market attacker radicalized in prison

Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni answers to journalists’ questions as he holds a year-end press conference, in Rome, Thursday Dec. 29, 2016. Gentiloni said the government will take further measures to combat terrorism following the shooting death of a Tunisian fugitive near Milan, including speedier repatriation of illegal migrants.

U of T, McGill University rank in top five of North America’s…

Members of the Jewish Defense League protest a public forum on Israel apartheid featuring Jenny Peto at the University of Toronto, Tuesday January 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ont. Israeli supporters overlook the main floor of York University’s Vari Hall as pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters divide the space down the centre while holding countering rallies at the school, Thursday afternoon, February 12, 2009 in Toronto.

Sweden denies permit for $7.4B offshore wind farm because the project …

This file photo taken on November 04, 2015 shows a service vessel passing by wind turbines of the German offshore wind farm “Amrum Bank West” owned by German energy company E.ON near the Heligoland archipelago on the North Sea, on November 4, 2015. The GE-Alstom Block Island Wind Farm stands in this aerial photograph taken above the water off Block Island, Rhode Island, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept.

Italy’s PM: No Italian links found for Berlin market suspect

Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday that there are no indications the Tunisian fugitive from the Berlin Christmas market attack, who was shot dead near Milan, had any significant contacts in Italy . Italian investigators have been trying to determine whether Anis Amri tapped a jihadi network in Italy , his European port of entry when he left Tunisia in early 2011 and the end of his nearly four-day flight following the Berlin truck attack that left 12 dead.

Ap Photos: Top Middle East photos from 2016

A Pakistani police officer fires tear gas shell to disperse crowd protesting against the government in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 28, 2016. Pakistani police have charged with batons and fired tear gas at stone-throwing supporters of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan who are rallying in Islamabad in defiance of a government-imposed ban on demonstrations.

Chuck Schumer tears into John Kerry over Israel speech that ’emboldened extremists on both sides’

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s admonishment of Israeli settlements on Wednesday did not sit well with a key member of his own party: incoming Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer. The Obama administration’s decision to harangue Israel for allegedly complicating the Middle East peace process angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the 70-minute speech also irked the powerful senator from New York.

Russia: Syria ceasefire deal reached

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a ceasefire between the Syrian government and the opposition, Russian state media TASS reports. “Reports have just arrived that several hours ago there was a development that we all have looked and worked for for so long,” Putin said.

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Boxing legend Don King stood beside President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday to discuss the relationship between Israel and the United States. “You all know Don King? Who doesn’t know Don King,” the President-elect asked reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Germany: Tunisian picked up in Berlin attack probe freed

FILE -The photo issued by German federal police on Dec. 21, 2016 shows 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri on a photo that was used on the documents found in the truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin Dec. 19. Prosecuto… . FILE – In this Dec. 20, 2016 file photo a police officer lights a candle in Berlin, Germany the day after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market nearby.

Money pours in for young dad who has lost leg and hand

NEARLY A 20,000 has been raised for a Swindon dad left with life-changing injuries after he suffered an electrical shock while working on scaffolding last week. Jamie Mines was five meters up on the scaffolding in Galton Way last Monday when the accident happened, seeing crews from Swindon, Stratton and Chippenham attend.

Calf of rare giraffe species born in UK zoo

A British zoo was celebrating after the birth of a rare Rothschild’s giraffe calf, whose number has dwindled to fewer than 1,600 in its native Kenya and Uganda. “First-time mum, Tula, delivered the most precious Christmas gift on Boxing Day,” said Chester Zoo in a message posted on its Facebook page, along with a picture of the mother and her six-foot calf standing between her legs.