N.Korea says chance of talks with US
‘narrowing’
AFP, Seoul
The possibility of talks between nuclear-armed North Korea and Washington is “narrowing”, Pyongyang said Tuesday after the US State Department reaffirmed its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Last month the North walked away from working-level nuclear talks with the US in Sweden, saying it was disappointed at the lack of “new and creative” solutions offered by Washington.
Israeli top court rejects right activist’s expulsion appeal
AP, Jerusalem
Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of the local director of Human Rights Watch to block the Israeli government’s attempt to expel him for allegedly supporting an international boycott movement against Israel.
The court said it did not find sufficient evidence to overturn a lower court’s ruling that upheld a government decision not to renew Omar Shakir’s work visa.
Spain leaders clash over Catalonia in TV election debate
AFP, Madrid
Spain’s acting prime minister hardened his stance on Catalonia in a live TV debate with his rivals on Monday, ahead of a repeat general election which polls suggest will lead to another inconclusive outcome.
Sunday’s election comes after several days of violent protests in Barcelona and other Catalan cities, sparked by last month’s jailing of nine Catalan separatist leaders for a failed 2017 independence bid.
At least 5 US citizens, including 2 infants, shot dead in Mexico
Reuters, Mexico City
At least five members of a family in northern Mexico, including two infants, were killed on Monday in an attack by unknown gunmen, a government source and local media said, in the latest case of grisly violence to hit the country.
Mexican media reported that the victims belonged to the LeBaron family, associated with a break-away Mormon community that settled in northern Mexico decades ago, and that the dead as well as additional missing family members may all be U.S. citizens.
