'Would like to see North Korea get involved in 2018 Winter Olympics,' says Donald Trump

Agencies
January 7, 2018

Washington, Jan 7: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday, that he would like to see North Korea get involved in the upcoming Winter Olympics in neighbouring South Korea and hoped that the two Koreas take it to the next level.

Trump was responding to a question on the move in this regard between the two Koreans, who are scheduled to hold their first talks on Tuesday. The president said he had some role in it as he took a strong stand against the North Koreans.

"I'd like to see them getting involved in the Olympics and maybe things go from there. So I'm behind that 100 percent," Trump told reporters at a news conference in Camp David, the picturesque presidential resort in Maryland.

"I spoke to the president, as you know, with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea. He thanked me very much for my tough stance and, you know, for 25 years they haven't been using a tough stance," Trump said.

Trump hoped that the two Koreans moved their relationship beyond just Olympics participation.

"I hope they do. I would love to see them take it beyond the Olympics. We have a very good relationship with South Korea," he said.

"I would love to see it go far beyond the Olympics, absolutely. And at the appropriate time, we'll get involved. I like the idea of their dealing on the Olympics. That should be between those two countries," Trump said.

Trump has adopted a tough approach against North Korea and has very often slammed its leader Kim Jong-un over tweeter. In a tweet this year he told the North Korean leader that he has a bigger nuclear button than his works and that his nuclear button works.

Responding to a question, Trump said he is open to the idea of talking with Kim Jong-un. "Are you, willing to engage and phone talks with Kim Jong right now," he was asked.

"Sure. I always believe in talking. Right now they're talking Olympics. It's a start. It's a big start. If we are not involved they wouldn't be talking about Olympics right now. They would be doing no talking. He (Kim Jong Un) knows I'm not messing around. I'm not messing around. Not even a little bit. Not even one percent. He understands that," he said.

"At the same time, if we can come up with a very peaceful and very good solution we're working on it with (Secretary of State) Rex (Tillerson). We're working on it with a lot of people. If something can happen and something can come out of those talks, that would be a great thing for all of humanity," he said.

"That would be a great thing for the world. Very important," Trump said.

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Agencies
January 20,2020

Wuhan, Jan 20: A 45-year-old Indian woman has become the first foreigner in China to have contracted a mysterious virus, which is suspected to be Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-like corona virus.

In 2002-2003, the SARS corona virus killed around 650 people in China and Hong Kong. This time, a new strain of virus with 62 cases have been reported in Wuhan and two in Shenzhen so far. 19 patients have been already cured and discharged, as per the Chinese media.

Official sources in Beijing said that the patient, Preeti Maheshwari, a school teacher at an international school, is undergoing treatment for the new strain of pneumonia outbreak, which has been spreading in two major cities of China - Wuhan and Shenzen. She has been on a ventilator in the intensive care unit.

Maheshwari was admitted to a local hospital after she seriously fell ill last Friday. Her husband, a businessman from Delhi, is allowed to visit her daily.

Following a second death due to the outbreak of the virus in Wuhan, India on Friday issued an advisory to its nationals travelling to China. Over 500 Indian medical students are studying in Wuhan.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

Kuala Lumpur, Feb 25: The government party led by Interim Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has rejected his resignation, urging him to continue leading it and the country, now shrouded in political uncertainty.

During an extraordinary meeting held on Monday night, the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu) unanimously rejected the 94-year-old Prime Minister's decision, reports Efe news.

Mahathir, the world's oldest head of government, presented his resignation on Monday, later accepted by King Abdullah Pahang, on condition that he continue as Interim Prime Minister until a new government is formed.

That decision caused a domino effect that broke the Patakan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) alliance, formed in 2018 by four political parties that prevailed in that year's general elections.

Bersatu and 11 Popular Justice Party deputies announced their departure from the coalition, although they reaffirmed their confidence in Mahathir as Malaysia's political leader.

"We remain intact and prepared to build a party to face the difficulties," Marzuki Yahya, Bersatu Secretary-General, said after the meeting.

Confusion reigns in the country, with some local media claiming Bersatu and the 11 deputies Justice Party deputies intended to form a new government with opposition parties, including the historic Barisan Nasional coalition, under Mahathir's leadership.

Lim Guan Eng, Finance Minister and coalition member, said in a statement that the chief executive himself had informed him he had no intention of forming a coalition with Barisan, which suffered a historic defeat in the last elections.

A future government will need at least 112 of 222 parliament votes.

Mahathir returned to politics in 2018 heading the Patakan Harapan coalition to defeat his predecessor Najib Razak, marred by the corruption suspicions offenses.

To that end, Mahathir joined Anwar Ibrahim, a former political ally who fell out of favour in 1999 and was imprisoned five years on charges of corruption and sodomy, whom he promised to be his successor in power.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Mar 6: UK stocks fell again on Friday as growing economic risks from the coronavirus outbreak shattered investor confidence, with Britain recording its first death from the pathogen.

A 1.5% fall for the FTSE 100 erased the blue-chip index's gains from earlier this week. Export-heavy companies have now lost over $230 billion in value since the epidemic sparked a worldwide rout last week.

The domestically focussed mid-cap index was down 1.9%.

Cruise operator Carnival dropped 4.2% to its lowest level since 2012, a day after its Grand Princess ocean liner was barred from returning to its home port of San Francisco on virus fears.

Britain said an older person with underlying health problems had succumbed to the flu-like virus on Thursday, while the number of infections jumped to 115.

In company news, drug maker AstraZeneca fell 1% after it said its treatment for a form of bladder cancer failed to meet the main goal of improving overall survival in patients in a late-stage study.

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