S. Korea, US sign deal on Seoul paying more for US military
AP, Seoul
South Korea and the U.S. on Friday formally signed a deal on Seoul’s increased payment for the U.S. troop deployment, amid worries about the future of the countries’ decades-long military alliance.
President Donald Trump earlier pressured Seoul to increase its share, triggering concerns in South Korea that he might withdraw some of the 28,500 U.S. troops here if Seoul refused to accept his demand. Experts say Trump will likely again apply pressure when the two countries meet in coming months to determine Seoul’s contribution next year.
N Ireland voters want a soft Brexit: Poll
Reuters, Dublin
Voters in Northern Ireland want the softest possible Brexit and would prefer checks on goods traveling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland rather than checks on the Irish border, a poll for the Irish Times showed on Friday.
A significant majority, 67 percent, support a Brexit in which the United Kingdom stays in the EU’s single market and customs union, so avoiding the need for checks anywhere, the Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll showed.
Finland’s center-right government resigns
AP, Copenhagen
Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila’s center-right government resigned Friday after failing to push through a planned social and health reform.
“I take the responsibility for the failure. It has been a huge disappointment to me,” Sipila told a news conference, according to public broadcaster YLE. He added that the reform “had been one of our most important projects.”
Ukrainian presidential ballot to have 39 names
AP, Minsk
The ballot for Ukraine’s presidential election will include 39 candidates, a marginally slimmer field after five contenders dropped out in recent days. The final candidates’ list for the March 31 vote was announced Friday by the central elections commission. Opinion polls suggest that no candidate is likely to get anywhere close to the 50 percent of the votes needed to win in a first round.
US cancels award to journalist over her criticism of Trump
Reuters, Washington:
The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it erred in notifying a Finnish journalist she was a finalist for an award recognising courageous women, but it characterized as “speculation” a report that the prize was rescinded over her criticism of President Donald Trump. “What I would say is that we made a mistake. This was a regrettable error,” State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told a briefing when asked about a report in Foreign Policy.
magazine that the award to Finnish investigative journalist Jessikka Aro had been withdrawn.
