|
From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting.
North Korea is willing to talk to the United States about denuclearization. That words Sunday from a senior but unnamed American official. It's the first tangible sign that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is still willing to meet with President Trump since the North first proposed the summit last month. Trump has said he wants to meet with Kim before the end of May. Details on the talks are still unclear, including the exact agenda and place. But American officials have said there have been secret contacts between the United States and North Korea. On Twitter Sunday, President Trump predicted there would be a resolution of the U.S.-China standoff on tariffs. Those tariffs have been proposed by each side on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods that the world's two biggest economies are threatening to impose on each other. Trump wrote "China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do." He said "taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!" Trump said he and President Xi Jinping "will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade." German officials said six people have been detained Sunday in connection with a plan to carry out an alleged extremist attack on Berlin's half-marathon. In a joint statement, prosecutors and police said, "There were isolated indications that those arrested, aged between 18 and 21 years, were participating in the preparation of a crime in connection with this event." Berlin police tweeted that six people had been arrested. This is VOA news. Prosecutors said Sunday they still do not know why a 48-year-old German man drove a van into a crowd of people in the western city of Münster, killing two and injuring 20 others. The man then shot himself in the van. Officials said six of those injured are in critical condition. Myanmar is not ready for the [reparation] repatriation, that is, of Rohingya refugees. according to the senior most United Nations official to visit the country this year. Ursula Mueller is the assistant secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs. She met the ministers of defense and border affairs on a recent six-day visit to Myanmar. "I asked them to end the violence. I reiterated what the secretary-general of the United Nations called for, end the violence, and that the return of the refugees from Cox's Bazar is to be on a voluntary, dignified way, when solutions are durable. From what I've seen and heard from people - no access to health services, concerns about protection, continued displacements - conditions are not conducive to return." A parliamentary inquiry in Australia is investigating whether the domestic and legal trade in ivory is contributing to the deaths of thousands of African elephants each year. From Sydney, correspondent Phil Mercer reports. Members of parliament are investigating if lax regulations are allowing recently poached ivory to be passed off as antiques in Australia. It's illegal to import ivory into Australia, but there are concerns black market ivory is being smuggled into the country. Campaigners argue there is clear evidence poachers have been using Australia to offload elephant tusks from the illicit trade in ivory into the legitimate art market. In the past decade, more than 320 imported and 79 exported items made of ivory have been confiscated by Australian authorities. It's estimated that 55 African elephants are killed by poachers each day for their tusks. Phil Mercer, for VOA news, Sydney. President Trump on Sunday blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran for what he called on Twitter a "mindless chemical attack" in Syria that killed at least 40 people on Saturday. The president vowed there would be a "big price to pay." In a rare direct condemnation of the Russian leader, Trump declared, "President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible" for their support of "Animal Assad," the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. You can find more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com. and on the VOA news mobile app. From the world headquarters of the Voice of America in Washington, I'm Jonathan Jones, VOA news. That's the latest world news from VOA. |