AFP, Washington
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hope Thursday that a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can be scheduled for early 2019.
“We are hopeful that in the new year, President Trump and Chairman Kim will get together not too long after the first of the year and make even further progress on taking this (nuclear) threat to the United States away from us,” Pompeo said in an interview with KNSS Radio in his home state of Kansas.
US Congress approves criminal justice bill
Reuters, Washington
The U.S. Congress on Thursday gave final approval to bipartisan legislation supported by President Donald Trump that would bring sweeping changes to prison sentencing and the treatment of inmates during incarceration and following their release.
By a vote of 358-36, the House of Representatives passed the bill that was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate on Tuesday. It now goes to the White House for enacting into law.
New mass grave found in Iraq
AFP, Hawija (Iraq
Iraqi authorities said they uncovered a new mass grave containing the remains of dozens of people in an area of northern Kirkuk province once held by the Islamic State group.Security forces have discovered dozens of mass graves since they drove out IS in 2017 after three years of occupation of swathes of northern and western Iraq.
The United Nations said in November that more than 200 mass graves containing up to 12,000 victims had been found in Iraq that could hold vital evidence of war crimes by the jihadists.
US bishops face pressure amid new sex assault revelations
AFP, Chicago
US bishops preparing for a meeting to address the sexual abuse scandal roiling the Catholic Church suddenly find themselves in a high-stakes credibility test following a damning report accusing them of underplaying the crisis.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Wednesday issued an explosive report accusing the states Catholic dioceses of not releasing the names of at least 500 clergy accused of sexually abusing children.
India, China to deepen ties
AP, New Delhi
The foreign ministers of India and China on Friday discussed steps to deepen ties through academic exchanges and tourism even as they vie for influence with their smaller neighbors.
Sushma Swaraj and Wang Yi at their meeting in New Delhi took up enhancing cooperation in tourism, art, film, media, culture, yoga, sports, academic and youth exchanges, according to a tweet from India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar.
