Kim expresses condolences over virus in South Korea
AP, Seoul
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a personal letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to express his condolences over a soaring viral outbreak, Seoul officials said Thursday.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Kim’s letter was an attempt to improve strained ties with South Korea amid a deadlock in broader nuclear diplomacy with the U.S. Earlier this week, Kim’s sister issued insults against Moon’s presidential office in her first official statement.
Israel demolishes homes of 2 Palestinians
AP, Jerusalem
The Israeli military on Thursday said its forces demolished the homes of two Palestinians accused of being behind a deadly blast in the West Bank last year.
Israel says Walid Hanatsheh and Yazan Mughamis were part of a cell that carried out the attack in August, which killed 17-year-old Israeli Rina Shnerb and injured her father and brother as they hiked down to a spring in the occupied West Bank.
Vietnam culls 137,000 birds to contain avian influenza outbreaks
Reuters, Hanoi
Vietnam has so far this year culled 137,180 birds to contain the spreading of bird flu outbreaks, the government said on Thursday.
The outbreaks, including 38 outbreaks of H5N6 and five outbreaks of H5N1, have been detected in 13 out of Vietnam’s 63 provinces this year, the government said in a statement.
Çhief Justice calls Schumer remarks on 2 justices ‘dangerous’
AP, Washington
Çhief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday criticized as “inappropriate” and “dangerous” comments that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer made outside the Supreme Court earlier in the day about Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
Roberts was responding to Schumer’s remarks at a rally outside the court while a high-profile abortion case was being argued inside. “You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,” Schumer said, naming the two appointees of President Donald Trump, according to video of the rally available online.
