Condemnation, doubt greet NKorea’s H-bomb announcement
Condemnation, doubt greet NKorea’s H-bomb announcement
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s declaration that it had tested a hydrogen bomb for the first time was greeted with widespread condemnation — but also skepticism — as world powers vowed Wednesday to punish the impoverished and defiant nation with new international sanctions.
The isolated country’s fourth nuclear test since 2006 was a “reckless challenge to international norms of behavior and the authority of the U.N. Security Council,” said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.
The council met in an emergency session and called the test “a clear violation” of its resolutions. It agreed to start work immediately on a resolution for new sanctions.
The international community must respond with “steadily increasing pressure” and rigorous enforcement of existing measures, said U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power.
Four rounds of U.N. sanctions have aimed at reining in the North’s nuclear and missile development, but Pyongyang has ignored them and moved ahead with programs to modernize its ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
US sees Assad staying in Syria until March 2017
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has a vision for Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s departure. Even if it works, the president won’t be around to see the plan through.
An internal U.S. timeline for a best-case Syrian political transition, obtained by The Associated Press, sets a date of March 2017 for Assad to “relinquish” his position as president and for his “inner circle” to depart. That is two months after President Barack Obama leaves office and more than five years after Obama first called for Assad to leave.
Syria, according to the would-be American strategy, would hold votes for a new president and parliament in August 2017 — some 19 months from now.
The State Department said Wednesday the timeline was prepared late last year as a guide for Secretary of State John Kerry and other U.S. diplomats working on a political transition for Syria.
Spokesman John Kirby described the document as a “staff-level think piece” that is “preliminary and pre-decisional” and not “an official position.” He also said it is “not an accurate projection of plans by the international community to effect a political transition in Syria.”
Iraq offers to mediate between Saudi Arabia, Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iraq on Wednesday offered to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran after tensions soared following the kingdom’s execution of a Shiite cleric and attacks on two Saudi diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic.
The standoff has seen Saudi Arabia sever diplomatic ties with its longtime regional rival and could hinder efforts to resolve the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, where Riyadh and Tehran back opposite sides, as well as affect the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari proposed mediation during a news conference in Tehran, but also referred to the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr as a “crime.” Saudi Arabia and its allies say al-Nimr was found guilty of terrorism charges, and that condemnations of the execution amount to meddling in Riyadh’s internal affairs.
Iraq has undertaken a delicate balancing act amid the latest regional turmoil. The Shiite-led government in Baghdad relies on Iranian help to battle the extremist Islamic State group, but is also trying to repair ties to oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which last week sent an ambassador to Baghdad for the first time in 25 years.
Speaking alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, al-Jaafari said Iraq’s place in the heart of the Middle East allows it to play a role in trying to “alleviate tensions.”
Cologne divided about who to blame for New Year’s assaults
COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Amid widespread shock over a string of sexual assaults in this cosmopolitan German city on New Year’s Eve, the response was divided Wednesday: blame the police or chide the victims, deport criminal foreigners or prevent migrants from entering the country in the first place.
The reaction in Cologne reflects a broader debate as Germany struggles to reconcile law and order with its new-found role as a haven for those seeking a better life.
Police descriptions of the perpetrators as of “Arab or North African origin” were seized on by those calling for an end to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy toward people fleeing violence and persecution — even as authorities warned they don’t know if any of the culprits are refugees.
Adding to the controversy were remarks by Cologne’s mayor, Henriette Reker, suggesting that women can protect themselves from strange men on the streets by keeping them “more than an arm’s length” away — words that were widely ridiculed on social media Wednesday for putting the onus on the victims.
At least 106 women have come forward to file criminal complaints of sexual assault and robbery during the New Year’s Eve festivities, authorities said, including two accounts of rape.