Trump Says Will Know Next Week If North Korea Summit To Go Ahead

Trump Says Will Know Next Week If North Korea Summit To Go Ahead - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would know next week whether his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would take place on June 12 in Singapore as scheduled, casting further doubt on plans for the unprecedented meeting.

White House aides are preparing to travel to Singapore this weekend for a crucial meeting with North Korean officials to discuss the agenda and logistics for the summit, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Visiting Washington, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that if the United States seeks peace with North Korea and wants to make history, "now is the time" for the two countries' leaders to hold their first-ever summit.

The U.S. delegation, which includes White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph Hagin and deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel, was being dispatched after Trump said on Tuesday there was a "substantial chance" the summit would be called off amid concerns Pyongyang is not prepared to give up its nuclear arsenal.

But he added: "We'll see."

Trump did not say, however, whether the preparatory talks between U.S. and North Korean officials in coming days were expected to clarify the situation.

Pompeo said on Wednesday the United States is prepared to walk away from nuclear negotiations with North Korea if the summit heads in the wrong direction.

Pompeo said he was "very hopeful" the summit would take place but said the decision was ultimately up to Kim, who the secretary of state has met twice in less than two months.

Trump raised doubts about the summit in talks on Tuesday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who came to Washington to urge Trump not to let a rare opportunity with reclusive North Korea slip away.

It was unclear whether Trump was truly backing away from the summit or whether he was strategically coaxing North Korea to the table after decades of tension on the Korean peninsula and antagonism with Washington over its nuclear weapons programme.

The White House was caught off guard when, in a dramatic change of tone, North Korea last week condemned the latest U.S.-South Korean air combat drills, suspended North-South talks and threatened to scrap the summit if Pyongyang was pushed towards "unilateral nuclear abandonment."

North Korea's vice foreign minister said the future of the summit between Pyongyang and Washington was "entirely" up to the United States.

"We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us," said Choe Son Hui, according to a report by North Korea's central news agency on Thursday.

Choe said she could suggest to leader Kim that North Korea reconsider the summit if the United States offended the North's good will.

If the summit is called off or fails, it would be a major blow to what Trump supporters hope will be the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency.

'BAD DEAL IS NOT AN OPTION'

Pompeo insisted the Trump administration was "clear-eyed" about North Korea, which has a history of making promises in negotiations and then backtracking.

"A bad deal is not an option," Pompeo said in his written opening statement for a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. "If the right deal is not on the table, we will respectfully walk away."

Pompeo, who was director of the CIA before becoming secretary of state in April after Trump fired Rex Tillerson, is the highest-ranking Trump administration to meet Kim. On his most recent trip he brought back three Americans who had been held by North Korea.

Pompeo said a U.S.-led sanctions pressure campaign would not be eased until North Korea gives up nuclear weapons. “We have made zero concessions to Chairman Kim and have no intention to do so,” he said.

"Our posture will not change until we see credible steps taken towards the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he said.

Meeting Wang later in the day, Pompeo said the United States expects all countries, including China - North Korea's main trading partner and ally - to "meet their obligations" to enforce sanctions on Pyongyang.

Trump suggested on Tuesday that Kim's recent meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping had influenced Kim to harden his stance ahead of the summit. China's foreign ministry said, however, that Beijing had played a positive role on the Korean peninsula.

Also on Wednesday, a United Nations Security Council committee approved travel by North Korean officials to Singapore for the summit, diplomats said. Singapore had asked the U.N. sanctions panel for a blanket waiver for the North Koreans' participation.

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China Says Eastern European Summits Are Good For EU

China Says Eastern European Summits Are Good For EU - Annual summits between China and central and eastern European countries are beneficial to the European Union as a whole, the Chinese government's told Bulgaria's foreign minister, brushing off concern that Beijing is seeking to divide the continent.

China has courted central and eastern European states, including with annual summits, which has unnerved Western European capitals who fear China wants to sow divisions in the bloc.

Reuters reported in March that China was considering paring back the summits, though China has said preparatory talks for this year's summit in Bulgaria are continuing.

Meeting Bulgaria's deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva in Argentina, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi said the "16+1" platform had had a positive effect on economic development, referring to China's cooperation mechanism with those countries.

China believes that this year's summit in Bulgaria will achieve new results and further promote mutually beneficial cooperation between China and central and eastern Europe, Wang added, according to the statement issued on Wednesday.

Zaharieva told Wang that Bulgaria will "enthusiastically welcome" Chinese leaders to attend the summit and that they are busy making preparations for it, according to China's foreign ministry.

Cooperation between China and central and eastern Europe does not affect China's broader cooperation with the EU, she added.

Bulgaria also supports China's Belt and Road initiative and wants to promote more infrastructure projects under its framework, Zaharieva said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping's grand plan to build a new Silk Road.

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Hawaii Volcano Eruption Driving Away Millions In Tourism Dollars

Hawaii Volcano Eruption Driving Away Millions In Tourism Dollars - Cruise ships have cancelled stops on Hawaii's Big Island. Hotel rooms will sit vacant this summer despite price cuts.

And guest house owners and tour guides that depend on the 2 million visitors each year to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park are wondering how long their families will go without any income.

Tourism authorities say summer bookings for hotels on Hawaii's Big Island have fallen almost 50 percent since the volcano began spewing lava and toxic gases on May 3.

The closure of the park, the state's top tourist destination, alone is costing the island $166 million (123.82 million pounds), the National Park Service said on Monday.

Tourism is the Big Island's largest industry, and by far, biggest employer, providing more than 30 percent of private sector jobs in 2017, according to the Hawaii Visitors Bureau.

Erik Storm's EcoGuides business, which conducts tours of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, ground to a halt a month ago when volcanic conditions made it too dangerous to visit lava areas.

"We have a family to support so we hope that the National Park will reopen again soon, otherwise this could have a serious impact on our life."

SPOOKED BY LAVA

The volcano, however, shows no sign of quieting down. Geologists say the current cycle of eruption is among the worst events in a century from one of the world's most active volcanoes. A series of Kilauea eruptions in 1955 lasted 88 days.

Potential visitors to the Big Island have been spooked by images of lava torching homes, soldiers wearing gas masks and now deadly white clouds of acid and glass shards as molten rock streams into the Pacific.

While Kilauea's lava flows are in a small, roughly 10-square-mile rural area in the southeast Puna district, the volcano is having an impact on tourism across the Big Island, home to 200,000 people.

Beverly Oka’s family-run Uncle Billy’s Kona Bay Hotel is 120 miles (193 km) west of the lava flows, but bookings through the summer months are down around 40 percent.

"We are not affected. We have some vog, but not more than usual," said Oka of the volcanic smog that routinely blows from Kilauea, which has been in a near constant state of eruption since 1983. Her hotel is offering a 30 percent discount to try to lure customers.

Norwegian Cruise Line cancelled stops on the Big Island for its cruise ships due to "adverse conditions." Royal Caribbean Cruises nixed a port call in Hilo, the island's largest city, which is about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the volcano.

Rob Guzman and his husband Bob Kirk fled their guest-house rental business just 6 miles (10 km) from the lava flows, unnerved by near constant tremors, clouds of toxic sulphur dioxide gas and risks highway escape routes would be cut off.

"We’ve lost more than half of our household income and many other people will be in the same situation indefinitely," said Guzman, a resident of Kalapana Seaview Estates, who is staying with friends north of Hilo.

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Venezuela Vote Turnout Was 32 Percent By 6 pm - Election Board Source

Venezuela Vote Turnout Was 32 Percent By 6 pm - Election Board Source - Participation in Venezuela's controversial presidential election on Sunday was at 32.3 percent by 6 p.m. as most polling stations began closing, according to an election board source.

Turnout at Venezuela's last presidential election in 2015 was 80 percent, but the mainstream opposition called for a boycott of Sunday's vote, alleging it was rigged in favour of socialist leader Nicolas Maduro's re-election.

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U.S. President Trump Meets China's Liu On Trade Issues - CCTV

U.S. President Trump Meets China's Liu On Trade Issues - CCTV - Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who is leading a trade delegation in Washington, has met U.S. President Donald Trump, state broadcaster China Central Television said on Friday.

A second round of talks between senior Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts started at the U.S. Treasury on Thursday morning, focused on cutting China's U.S. trade surplus and improving intellectual property protections.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders had earlier said Trump would meet Liu later on Thursday.

Liu said the two countries should work together with mutual respect to promote stable and healthy ties, the People's Daily said in a post on an official microblog account.

"China is willing to strive together with the United States to appropriately handle and resolve trade issues felt by both sides on a basis of mutual benefit," the official newspaper cited Liu as saying.

He said the two sides should push to ensure trade cooperation continued to be a "ballast stone and propeller" of U.S.-China relations.

The paper said Trump had called for strengthening of trade and investment ties in sectors such as energy, manufacturing and agriculture, as well as pushing ahead work on intellectual property protection.

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on goods worth up to $150 billion (£111 billion) to combat what he says is Beijing's misappropriation of U.S. technology through joint venture requirements and other policies.

Beijing has threatened equal retaliation, including tariffs on some of its largest U.S. imports, including aircraft, soybeans and autos.

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Trump Lawyer Cohen Sought $1 Million From Qatar In Late 2016 - Washington Post

Trump Lawyer Cohen Sought $1 Million From Qatar In Late 2016 - Washington Post - U.S. President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen asked the Qatari government for at least $1 million in December 2016 in exchange for access or insight into the Trump administration, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Qatar turned down Cohen's offer, made weeks before Trump's inauguration in January 2017, the Post reported, citing several people with knowledge of the situation. Other media outlets also reported Wednesday that Cohen requested money from Ahmed al-Rumaihi, who at the time was head of the investments division of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund.

Reuters could not immediately independently verify the reports. Cohen's attorney Stephen Ryan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the reports. Al-Rumaihi was not immediately available for comment.

Cohen made the solicitation to al-Rumaihi at a meeting in Trump Tower in New York on Dec. 12, 2016, the Post reported.

Al-Rumaihi told Cohen that Qatar expected to invest in Trump plans to solicit investment in a U.S. infrastructure programme, the Post reported. Cohen offered to help find projects for Qatar to sponsor, in exchange for a $1 million upfront fee, the newspaper reported.

The request to Qatar would be the latest such exchange offered by Cohen to be made public following acknowledgements by U.S. and European companies last week that they paid Cohen, who was Trump's lawyer for about a decade and self-described "fixer" for Trump.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said it had paid Cohen nearly $1.2 million; U.S. telecommunications company AT&T Inc said it made payments of $600,000; and South Korea's Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd said it hired him for $150,000.

Novartis and AT&T have said they were contacted by the office of U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller about the situation in late 2017.

Mueller is investigating possible collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, something that Trump has repeatedly denied.

Prosecutors are investigating Cohen for possible bank and tax fraud, possible campaign law violations linked to a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, and perhaps other matters related to Trump's presidential campaign, a person familiar with the probe has said.

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U.S. Judge Refuses To Dismiss Ex-Trump Aide Manafort's Criminal Case

U.S. Judge Refuses To Dismiss Ex-Trump Aide Manafort's Criminal Case - A federal judge dealt President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort a major blow on Tuesday by refusing to dismiss criminal charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, after Manafort claimed that Mueller's probe has run amok and should be reined in.

In a sharp rebuke of those claims, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had followed all the Justice Department's rules when he hired Mueller and Mueller's case against Manafort is not overly broad or improper.

Rosenstein "expressly approved the Special Counsel’s investigation of the facts alleged in the indictment, so there has been no violation of the regulations, and the Special Counsel did not act without authority," wrote Jackson, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama.

In response to the ruling, Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said: "Paul Manafort maintains his innocence and looks forward to prevailing in this matter." A spokesman for the Special Counsel declined to comment.

Manafort, who performed lobbying work for a pro-Russian former Ukrainian president before serving as Trump’s campaign chairman in 2016, is facing two indictments brought by Mueller in federal courts in Washington and Alexandria, Virginia.

The charges against him in the Washington case include conspiring to launder money, conspiring to defraud the United States and failing to register as a foreign agent. In Virginia, he faces charges that include bank fraud and filing false tax returns.

He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, none of which are directly related to work he performed for Trump's campaign.

In both criminal cases, Manafort has asked the courts to dismiss the charges on the grounds that Rosenstein's May 17, 2017 appointment order hiring Mueller runs afoul of Justice Department rules on special counsels.

He has also argued that Mueller's case against him has nothing to do with Russian interference in 2016 election, and that the probe by the FBI into his Ukraine dealings predates the Russia probe.

Trump has denied that his campaign colluded with Russia and called the probe that has dogged his presidency a "witch hunt."

Jackson was not moved by any of Manafort's assertions.

"Manafort was, at one time, not merely 'associated with,' but the chairman of, the Presidential campaign, and his work on behalf of the Russia-backed Ukrainian political party and connections to other Russian figures are matters of public record," she wrote, adding that it was "logical" for investigators to probe Manafort's dealings.

Her ruling also pointed to an August 2017 memo by Rosenstein that further detailed the scope of the probe. That memo explicitly gave Mueller authority to probe all of Manafort's Ukraine-related work predating the 2016 campaign.

Republicans in the House of Representatives who are critical of the Mueller probe have pressed the Justice Department in recent months to provide them with an unredacted copy of the August memo.

The ruling marks a setback for Manafort, who last month was buoyed when the judge in the Alexandria case aggressively questioned prosecutors about whether their case was overly broad and mused that he believed they were using the charges to get Manafort to turn over dirt on Trump.

That judge, T.S. Ellis III for the Eastern District of Virginia, has yet to rule on whether to dismiss the charges against Manafort.

Ellis, who was appointed to the bench by Republican President Ronald Reagan, has also said he too wants to see an unredacted copy before he can fully form a decision on whether to dismiss the charges.

He told prosecutors to turn over a copy to him by Friday.

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North Korea Proposes Inter-Korea Talks On May 16 - South Korea Ministry

North Korea Proposes Inter-Korea Talks On May 16 - South Korea Ministry - North Korea has proposed holding high-level inter-Korea talks on May 16, South Korea's Unification Ministry on Tuesday.

The South Korean government was in talks to finalise details for the meeting, said a ministry official, who declined to be named due to internal policy.

North Korea has scheduled the dismantlement of its nuclear bomb test site for sometime between May 23-25 in order to uphold its pledge to discontinue nuclear tests, the country's state media reported on Saturday a month ahead of the summit with the United States.

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Suicide Bomber On Motorbike Wounds Police In Indonesia's Surabaya

Suicide Bomber On Motorbike Wounds Police In Indonesia's Surabaya - A suicide bomber on a motorbike wounded several Indonesian police outside a police building in Surabaya on Monday, a day after Islamist militants launched suicide attacks on churches in the country's second largest city, police said.

"Clearly it’s a suicide bombing," East Java police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said.

"We can’t be open up all details yet because we are still identifying victims at the scene and the crime scene is being handled," he told a briefing.

The blast occurred at 8.50 a.m. (0150 GMT) at checkpoint outside the building, he said. The full extent of casualties was unclear, he said.

CCTV footage shown on Indonesian television showed a motorbike arriving at a checkpoint next to a car and exploding as officers approached it.

On Sunday, Islamist militants killed at least 13 people in suicide attacks on three churches in Surabaya.

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U.S. Says It Backs Argentine President Macri's Economic Reform Programme

U.S. Says It Backs Argentine President Macri's Economic Reform Programme  - The United States supports Argentine President Mauricio Macri's economic reform programme, the White House said on Thursday, after Buenos Aires announced this week it was seeking financing from the International Monetary Fund.

"President Macri has the right vision for the Argentine economy and has made important strides towards modernizing the country’s economic policy," it said.

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Indonesia Police Say Hostage Crisis At High-Security Jail Resolved

Indonesia Police Say Hostage Crisis At High-Security Jail Resolved - Indonesian police have resolved a hostage crisis at a high-security jail on the outskirts of the capital, Jakarta, after nearly all the Islamist prisoners involved had surrendered, the country's deputy police chief said on Thursday.

"We have minimised the number of victims. The operation ended at 07:15 (a.m.)," Commissioner General Syafruddin told a news briefing.

"The majority of terrorism convicts, above 90 percent, have surrendered," he said. Earlier, a Reuters witness had heard several blasts at the jail in Depok.

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Pompeo Arrives In North Korea; Trump Cites Hope For Detainees

Pompeo Arrives In North Korea; Trump Cites Hope For Detainees - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday to prepare an unprecedented summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, while the U.S. president signalled the possibility that three Americans detained in the country could soon be released.

Trump earlier broke the news of Pompeo's second visit to North Korea in less than six weeks and said that the two countries had agreed on a date and location for the summit, though he stopped short of providing details.

A U.S. media pool report said Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, from Japan and headed to the city's Koryo Hotel for meetings.

While Trump said it would be a "great thing" if the American detainees were freed, Pompeo, speaking to reporters en route to Pyongyang, said he had not received such a commitment but hoped North Korea would "do the right thing." Pompeo said his visit was intended to finalise a summit agenda that could enable a "historic, big change" in relations between long-time foes.

While Kim would be giving up the last of his American prisoners, whom North Korea has often used as bargaining chips with the United States, a release could also be aimed at pressuring Trump to make concessions of his own in his bid to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear arsenal, something it has not signalled a willingness to do.

"Plans are being made, relationships are building," Trump said of the planned summit during remarks otherwise focussed on his decision to pull the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

"Hopefully, a deal will happen. And with the help of China, South Korea and Japan, a future of great prosperity and security can be achieved for everyone," Trump said.

Pompeo made a secret visit to North Korea over the Easter weekend, becoming the first U.S. official known to have met Kim, to lay the groundwork for the planned summit. The meeting occurred before Pompeo, who was then head of the CIA, had received Senate confirmation as secretary of state.

Trump suggested that dropping out of the Iran nuclear accord, which he has frequently denounced as a bad deal, would send a "critical message" not just to Tehran but also to Pyongyang.

"The United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them," Trump said.

But critics of Trump's decision to leave the Iran deal say it could undermine his credibility in North Korea's eyes, fuelling doubts whether he would abide by any nuclear agreement.

FATE OF THREE DETAINEES

Pompeo’s trip this week raised the prospects that the three Korean-American detainees - Kim Hak-song, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Dong-chul - could be turned over to him.

Asked whether that could happen, Trump told reporters: “We’ll soon be finding out. It would be a great thing if they are.”

Pompeo, whom aides say has played a key role in negotiations with North Korea on the issue, said, "We have been asking for the release of these detainees for ... 17 months," according to a transcript provided by the State Department of his remarks to reporters aboard his plane.

"We'll talk about it again today," he said. "I think it'd be a great gesture if they would choose to do so."

Pompeo said he was hoping to nail down a framework for the summit, the first-ever meeting of sitting U.S. and North Korean leaders. Trump has said the meeting could take place at either the heavily fortified demilitarized zone between North and South Korea or in Singapore.

Pompeo met Kim on his first trip but said he did not know whom he would meet this time. If he does see Kim again, he would be only the second secretary of state to sit down with a North Korean leader. The last was Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who made an unsuccessful trip in 2000 to arrange a meeting between President Bill Clinton and Kim's father, Kim Jong Il.

Pompeo said he hoped to set out conditions to allow Trump to achieve the goal of "complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization" of North Korea, but insisted that sanctions would not be lifted before that.

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New York State Attorney General Schneiderman Resigns After Accusations Of Abuse Of Women

New York State Attorney General Schneiderman Resigns After Accusations Of Abuse Of Women - New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigned on Monday after allegations of physical abuse by four women were reported in an article in the New Yorker magazine.

“In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me," Schneiderman said in a statement. "While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018.”

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Hezbollah Allies Set For Gains In Lebanon Parliament-Unofficial Results

Hezbollah Allies Set For Gains In Lebanon Parliament-Unofficial Results  - The Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah and its political allies looked set to win more than half the seats in Lebanon's first parliamentary election in nine years, according to preliminary results cited by politicians and Lebanese media.

The result, if confirmed by the final count, would boost Hezbollah politically, with parties and individuals aligned with the heavily armed group securing a simple majority in parliament in Sunday's election.

Hezbollah is classified as a terrorist group by the United States and an enemy of neighbouring Israel which has fought numerous wars with the group since it was founded in 1982.

The unofficial results also indicated that Western-backed Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri would emerge as the Sunni leader with the biggest bloc in the 128-seat parliament, making him the frontrunner to form the next government, though he lost seats.

The election was held under a complex new law that redrew constituency boundaries and changed the electoral system from winner-takes-all to a proportional one. The interior minister said official results would be declared on Monday morning.

The staunchly anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces, a Christian party, appears to have emerged as a big winner, nearly doubling its MPs to 15 from eight, according to the unofficial indications.

Hezbollah and groups and individuals affiliated to it secured at least 67 seats, according to a Reuters calculation based on preliminary results for nearly all the seats that were obtained from politicians and campaigns and reported in Lebanese media.

Hezbollah's allies include the Shi'ite Amal Movement led by Nabih Berri, the Christian Free Patriotic Movement established by President Michel Aoun and other groups and individuals that view its weapons as an asset to Lebanon.

Hezbollah-backed Sunnis did well in the cities of Beirut, Tripoli and Sidon, strongholds of Hariri's Future Movement, the unofficial results showed.

But Hezbollah lost ground in one of its strongholds, the Baalbek-Hermel constituency, where it lost two of 10 seats, one of them to Lebanese Forces.

Hezbollah-backed winners include Jamil al-Sayyed, a retired general and former Lebanese intelligence chief who is a close friend of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to the unofficial results.

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Trump orders Pentagon To Consider Reducing U.S. Troops In South Korea - New York Times

Trump orders Pentagon To Consider Reducing U.S. Troops In South Korea - New York Times - President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for reducing the number of U.S. troops in South Korea, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing several people briefed on the deliberations.

Reduced U.S. troop levels are not intended to be a bargaining chip in Trump's planned summit in late May or early June with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme, the Times said.

The officials said, however, that a peace treaty between the two Koreas could diminish the need for the 23,500 U.S. soldiers currently stationed on the peninsula, the newspaper said.

A full withdrawal of U.S. troops was unlikely, the officials said, according to the paper.

image: https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/settag/name=lotame/tags=all

Trump has said the United States should consider reducing the number of troops in South Korea unless Seoul shoulders more of the cost.

Then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo, before taking office as U.S. secretary of state, met with Kim last month and reported the North Korean leader was not demanding the withdrawal of all U.S. forces as a precondition for a summit with Trump.

South Korea said on Wednesday the issue of U.S. troops stationed in the South was unrelated to any future peace treaty with North Korea and that American forces should stay even if such an agreement is signed.

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China Says To Play Positive Role As It Seeks North Korea Resolution

China Says To Play Positive Role As It Seeks North Korea Resolution - However, China has also welcomed moves by North Korea to improve ties with South Korea and the United States.

Wang is visiting Pyongyang following last week's historic meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the North's Kim Jong Un, where both pledged to improve ties.

In a statement late on Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry cited Wang as offering North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho his congratulations for the successful meeting between the leaders of the North and South.

China fully supports North Korea's commitment to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula as well as its decision to concentrate its efforts on economic development, Wang said during his trip to Pyongyang.

"We hope the dialogue between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United States will be conducted successfully and that substantial progress will be made," he said, referring to an upcoming meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.

China also fully supports a resolution of North Korea's "reasonable and legitimate security concerns" and gives its full support for the improvement of inter-Korean relations, Wang said.

"China is willing to strengthen communication with North Korea and continue to play a positive role in seeking a political solution to the Korean peninsula issue," he said.

China had largely sat on the sidelines while the two Koreas improved ties, until Kim made a secretive trip to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in late March.

Beijing has been keen to show that it has an indispensable role to play in seeking a lasting solution, concerned that its interests may be ignored, especially as Pyongyang and Washington edge closer together.

The widely read Chinese state-run tabloid the Global Times said in an editorial on Thursday the theory China was being marginalised "is a shallow attempt to manipulate public opinion".

China prefers quieter diplomacy, it said, pointing to the secrecy surrounding Kim's meeting with Xi.

"But Seoul, for its own political purposes, created much hype about the inter-Korean summit. U.S. President Donald Trump has started claiming credit for the Kim-Trump summit before it even starts," it said.

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South Korea Says It Wants U.S. Troops to stay regardless of any treaty with North Korea

South Korea Says It Wants U.S. Troops to stay regardless of any treaty with North Korea  - South Korea said on Wednesday the issue of U.S. troops stationed in the South is unrelated to any future peace treaty with North Korea and that American forces should stay even if such an agreement is signed.

"U.S. troops stationed in South Korea are an issue regarding the alliance between South Korea and the United States. It has nothing to do with signing peace treaties," said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, citing President Moon Jae-in.

The Blue House was responding to media questions about a column written by South Korean presidential adviser and academic Moon Chung-in that was published earlier this week.

Moon Chung-in said it would be difficult to justify the presence of U.S. forces in South Korea if a peace treaty was signed after the two Koreas agreed at an historic summit last week to put an end to the Korean conflict.

However, Seoul wants the troops to stay because U.S. forces in South Korea play the role of a mediator in military confrontations between neighbouring superpowers like China and Japan, another presidential official told reporters on condition of anonymity earlier on Wednesday.

Presidential adviser Moon Chung-in was asked not to create confusion regarding the president's stance, Kim said.

The United States currently has around 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, which North Korea has long demanded be removed as one of the conditions for giving up its nuclear and missile programmes.

However, there was no mention in last week's declaration by Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea. Kim and Moon Jae-in pledged to work for the "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula.

U.S. troops have been stationed in South Korea since the Korean War, which ended in 1953 in an armistice that left the two Koreas technically still at war.

Moon Jae-in and Kim have said they want to put an end to the Korean conflict, promising there will be "no more war" on the Korean peninsula.

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Australian Court Orders Vatican Treasurer Pell To Stand Trial

Australian Court Orders Vatican Treasurer Pell To Stand Trial - Vatican Treasurer George Pell must face trial on charges of historical sexual offences, an Australian court ruled on Tuesday, making him the most senior Catholic official to be tried on such allegations.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington handed down her decision that Pell's case will proceed to trial in a Melbourne court, following a month-long pre-trial hearing.

In court, Pell pleaded not guilty in a firm, loud voice.

In delivering her ruling, Wallington dismissed some of the charges levelled against Pell in the pre-trial hearing, but said allegations of offences at a pool and at a church in Victoria state will be heard. She provided no detail on the date of the trial.

Pell, 76, is on a leave of absence from his role as economy minister to Pope Francis. He sat quietly behind his lawyer, wearing a black suit with a clergyman's collar, as the decision was read out.

Pell has been directing media inquiries to the Sydney Archdiocese, his last employer before he took the Vatican posting. The Sydney Archdiocese had no immediate comment on Tuesday. Melbourne's Archbishop, Denis Hart, also declined to comment in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The pope has said he would not comment on the case until it was over.

Pell's lawyer, Robert Richter, had wrapped up four weeks of pre-trial questioning of accusers and witnesses by arguing there was no evidence to support the charges against his client.

Pell's defence raised questions during the pre-trial hearing about police procedure, the reliability of witnesses' memories and their psychological condition.

Richter said the evidence showed the worst of the allegations could not have occurred and he described the other charges as "reasonably insignificant".

During the pre-trial hearing, Prosecutor Mark Gibson had said none of the complainants had resiled from their allegations against Pell under cross-examination and Victoria Police Detective Sergeant Chris Reed refuted Richter's suggestions of serious flaws in the police investigation.

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Macron And Trump Planted Tree At The White House. Why It is Now Missing

Macron And Trump Planted Tree At The White House. Why It is Now Missing - French President Emmanuel Macron celebrated the special relationship between the United States and France during his state visit to Washington last week by planting a tree with President Donald Trump on the grounds of the White House.

Now the oak sapling is gone - at least temporarily.

White House photographers noticed the tree was gone days after it had been planted. Mystery ensued.

In fact, the tree, from Belleau Wood in France where almost 2,000 American soldiers died in a World War One battle, had been dug up not long after it was planted. It was put in quarantine, according to U.S. and French officials. The problem: Parasites on the tree could spread to others on the White House property.

"Since then, it has returned to quarantine and will soon be replanted in the White House gardens," the official said, adding: "Don’t worry, the tree is doing very well."

(Reporting by Yuri Gipas and Mike Stone in Washington and Michel Rose in Paris;

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U.S. Hopeful Korea Talks Will Achieve Progress Toward Peace

U.S. Hopeful Korea Talks Will Achieve Progress Toward Peace - The United States is hopeful talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will make progress on achieving peace and prosperity, the White House said in a statement on Thursday as the two men began their summit.

The White House also said it looks forward to continuing discussions with South Korea in preparation for the planned meeting of President Donald Trump and Kim in the coming weeks.

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