North Koreans enjoyed the fastest improvement in their incomes for five years in 2016, Seoul’s statistics agency has said — but Southerners are still more than 20 times better off. Per capita incomes averaged 1.46 million won ($1,340) in the North last year, Statistics Korea said in statement, up five per cent. It was the […]

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was declared on Sunday the winner of a heavily disputed presidential election held three weeks ago, despite mounting protests and opposition claims of fraud. Electoral authorities made the announcement the day that Hernandez’s leftist opponent, Salvador Nasralla, departed for the United States to highlight what he said was ballot tampering […]

The congress of Ecuador voted Sunday to open proceedings on whether to fire Vice President Jorge Glas, who has been convicted of corruption. A planning committee called the Legislative Administrative Council voted 4-3 to put Glas on trial in the congress. The case now goes to the Constitutional Court and if it agrees, another panel […]

A law firm representing US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law is suing him for lack of payment. Corcnicello, Tendler & Baumel-Cornicello filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking $102,000 for its services in 2014 and 2015, The New York Daily News initially reported Sunday. The company, meanwhile, is “working to resolve this matter,” according to a spokeswoman for […]

Finally accepting the facts on the ground in Syria, France’s Macron said France would now push for peace talks involving all parties in the six-year-old Syrian conflict, including President Bashar al-Assad. “On December 9, Iraqi Prime Minister (Haider al-) Abadi announced the end of the war and the victory over Daesh, and I think that […]

TEHRAN– Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Dec. 17 said Turkey wants to open an embassy in East ai-Quds (Jerusalem), following a decision by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to recognize East al-Quds the capital of the Palestinian state. “We have already declared East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state but we […]

TEHRAN – The number of new asylum seekers in Germany has fallen for a second year in a row following the mass influx that peaked in 2015, the government said Sunday. For all of 2017, “I presume a total of fewer than 200,000 migrants,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere was quoted as saying by the […]

The total cost of fighting the fire had come to more than $110 million by Saturday evening, as flames blazing over steep hills lit up the night skies. The 13 days of shifting winds and evacuations have taken their toll on a weary population. Paul Pineda, who lives in Fillmore, about 55 miles (90 km) […]

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said on Friday that Japan supports the 2015 nuclear deal and confirms no violations by Tehran. “Japan supports the Iran agreement with the nuclear deals… So far we have not confirmed any violation by Iran,” Sputnik quoted Kono as saying during a press conference at the UN. Kono also said […]

TEHRAN – Tens of thousands of Indonesians protested Sunday against the US decision to recognize Jerusalem (al-Quds) as Israel’s capital, the latest show of support for the Palestinians in the country with the world’s largest Muslim population. The rally was organized by the top Islamic authority the Indonesian Ulema Council and supported by the government […]