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South Korea’s unification minister said Friday he believed there was a “considerable” chance that US President Donald Trump will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit to the peninsula next week.Trump is expected in South Korea on Wednesday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum.US media have reported officials from his administration have privately discussed setting up a meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim, who he last held talks with in 2019.North Korea appears “to be paying attention to the United States and various signs… suggest a considerable possibility of a meeting,” unification minister Chung Dong-young told reporters.Trump has said he hopes to meet Kim again — possibly this year.Kim said last month he had “fond memories” of Trump and was open to talks if the United States dropped its “delusional” demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons.Seoul on Friday urged the two leaders not to let the chance “slip away”.”I don’t want to miss even a one percent chance,” the unification minister said.”They need to make a decision,” Chung, whose ministry handles fraught relations with the North, added.While no official announcements of the duo’s meeting have been made, South Korea and the United Nations Command halted tours of the Joint Security Area (JSA) from late October to early November.Kim and Trump last met in 2019 at Panmunjom in the JSA in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas — the only place where soldiers from both sides face each other on a regular basis.Chung said North Koreans have been spotted “sprucing up” areas near the JSA for the first time this year — cleaning, pulling weeds, tidying flower beds and taking photos.Kim met Trump three times for high-profile summits during the US leader’s first term.The duo’s last and impromptu meeting at Panmunjom was hastily arranged after Trump extended an invitation to Kim on Twitter a day prior.That event saw the two leaders shake hands over the concrete slabs dividing North and South before Trump walked a few paces into Pyongyang’s territory — becoming the first US president ever to set foot on North Korean soil.But talks eventually collapsed over just how much of its nuclear arsenal the North was willing to give up and what Pyongyang would get in return.In August, Trump hailed his relationship with Kim and said he knew him “better than anybody, almost, other than his sister.”Trump’s trip to South Korea is also expected to see him meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday he would tell US leader Donald Trump in any meeting at a summit in Malaysia starting this weekend that tariffs on his country were a “mistake”.Officials from both countries told AFP this week that talks are underway for a meeting between the two leaders at the regional summit of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur.”I am very interested in having this meeting. I am fully prepared to defend Brazil’s interests and show that there was a mistake in the tariffs imposed on Brazil,” the leftist president told a news conference at the ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta.He said the basis of Trump’s decision that their trade relationship was in favour of the South American giant was “untrue”.Trump has instituted a 50 percent tariff on many Brazilian products and imposed sanctions on several top officials, including a Supreme Court judge, to punish Brazil for what he termed a “witch hunt” against former president Jair Bolsonaro.In September, Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to Lula.But relations between Trump and Lula began to thaw when the two 79-year-old leaders had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September.They then spoke by phone on October 6 and first raised the possibility of meeting at the ASEAN summit.During that meeting, Lula asked Trump to lift the tariffs and sanctions.

US President Donald Trump’s trip to Asia which begins Sunday carries significant economic stakes for countries around the region, with multiple tariff deals still pending and a trade dispute simmering between Washington and Beijing.Trump will visit Malaysia from October 26 to 27 for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. He will then travel to Japan before attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea starting October 29.Here follows some of the key issues:Malaysia: agreement on trackMalaysia is expected to finalise a trade deal with Washington during Trump’s visit to Kuala Lumpur, with negotiations “99.9 percent” complete, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The governments will also sign “initial agreements” to strengthen trade and investment, he said. “Semiconductors, AI, digital and energy are all covered,” he added. Malaysia has been hit by US tariffs of 19 percent on its exports, and Trump is considering imposing additional tariffs on imported chips. Malaysia is the world’s sixth-largest exporter of semiconductors, which make up 40 percent of its exports.China: Rare earths on the agenda at Xi-Trump meeting?Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will travel to Malaysia for trade negotiations with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before an anticipated meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea. Trump said on Wednesday he hopes to reach a “deal on everything” with Xi, after US-China trade tensions recently escalated.Beijing announced it would strengthen its controls on the export of rare earth elements, essential manufacturing materials over which it holds a near-monopoly. In response, Trump threatened huge additional tariffs.Japan: Takaichi’s challengesJapan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will host Trump in Tokyo.In exchange for an agreement concluded in July that lowered US-imposed tariffs on Japan, Washington is demanding $550 billion worth of Japanese investments in the United States.However, Tokyo has promised only one to two percent of that would come in the form of direct investments, with the rest made of loans and guarantees — a point of difference that could come up in the talks between the leaders. Another key topic would likely be Washington’s demands that Tokyo stops importing liquefied natural gas from Russia, the island nation’s third-largest supplier.Japan is also facing high tariff rates on key exports. Although Trump has reduced tariffs on Japanese automobiles to 15 percent, this rate is still considered too high by manufacturers, while 50 percent tariffs remain on Japanese steel.South Korea: Progress toward an agreement As Seoul struggles to reach a trade agreement with Washington, US Treasury Secretary Bessent said last week that an agreement was nearing completion.The South Korean Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy, Kim Yong-beom, has said that both parties have made significant progress, though the details of the deal still need to be settled. In July, Trump announced he had agreed to reduce tariffs on South Korean products to 15 perecent in exchange for a commitment from Seoul for Korean investment of $350 billion in the United States.However, the terms of these investments are still being hotly debated and tariffs on automobiles remain. The arrest of hundreds of South Korean workers by US immigration authorities has also strained relations.Indonesia: awaiting clarificationJakarta and Washington struck a preliminary tariff agreement in July that reduced US tariffs on Indonesian goods to 19 percent in exchange for significant investment and Indonesia pledging to acquire 50 Boeing aircraft, according to Trump.Indonesia’s Chief Economic Minister, Airlangga Hartarto, who previously signalled a December deadline for the details of the reciprocal tariff agreement, said on Monday the negotiation had been “temporarily halted” due to the US government shutdown.Vietnam: furniture exports under pressureVietnam reached an agreement with Washington in July to reduce tariffs on the country’s exports to 20 percent, but Vietnam still faces a large impact from sector-specific duties. In mid-October, Washington imposed a 25 percent tariffs on imports of furniture, which accounts for 10 percent of Vietnam’s exports to the US. Hanoi has said it wishes to advance “the negotiation process for the trade deal on the basis of fairness, equality and mutual benefit.”India: Hope for reconciliationIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to participate in the ASEAN summit via video conference, and New Delhi is yet to reach a formal trade agreement with the Trump administration.The relationship between the two countries deteriorated in August when Washington raised tariffs on Indian exports to 50 percent, but the two leaders have since adopted a more conciliatory tone.burs-jug/mac/ceg/fox

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded Thursday against a “crazy war” as an escalating US military campaign sent tensions soaring.Maduro’s comment came after US President Donald Trump said he had authorized covert action against the South American nation amid a military campaign targeting what Washington says are drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific.”Yes peace, yes peace forever, peace forever. No crazy war, please!” Maduro said in English in a meeting with unions aligned with the leftist leader.The United States has deployed stealth warplanes and navy ships as part of what it calls anti-narcotics efforts, but has yet to release evidence that its targets — eight boats and a semi-submersible — were smuggling drugs.Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump again denied that he had sent B-1B bombers to Venezuela, but said “we’re not happy with them. They’ve emptied their prisons into our country.”The president said “we’re not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war” from Congress, which has the constitutional power to do so.”We’re just going to kill people who come into our country.”The US strikes, which began on September 2, have killed at least 37 people, according to an AFP tally based on US figures.Regional tensions have flared as a result of the campaign, with Maduro accusing Washington of seeking regime change.Late Thursday, the government in Trinidad and Tobago — located just off Venezuela’s coast — announced that a US warship would dock in its capital from October 26-30.The Trinidadian foreign ministry said a unit of US Marines would conduct joint exercises with its defense forces.Two of those killed in the US strikes were from Trinidad and Tobago.Last week, Trump said he had authorized covert CIA action against Venezuela and was considering strikes against alleged drug cartels on land.The Republican billionaire president accuses Maduro of heading a drug cartel, a charge the Venezuelan leader denies.”We know the CIA is present” in Venezuela, the country’s defense minister Vladimir Padrino said Thursday. “They may deploy — I don’t know how many — CIA-affiliated units in covert operations… and any attempt will fail.”Padrino was overseeing military exercises along Venezuela’s coast in response to the US military deployment in the Caribbean. Experts have questioned the legality of using lethal force in foreign or international waters against suspects who have not been intercepted or questioned.

Major US and Japanese animation studios including HBO Max and Amazon unknowingly hired North Korean IT workers, a joint government report has found.Pyongyang has ramped up cyber operations in recent years, turning hacking into a key source of foreign currency in the face of biting sanctions over its nuclear and weapons programmes.A report released Wednesday by the multi-government Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) found that North Korean IT workers had concealed their nationality “in order to fraudulently gain contracts to work on animation projects for many companies”.Those companies included “HBO Max, Amazon, and several Japanese animation studios”, the report found.AFP has reached out to HBO Max and Amazon for comment.Many of them worked for companies such as Pyongyang’s state-owned animation studio SEK studios — previously reported to have assisted in Western projects such as the 2007 “Simpsons Movie”.Almost 200 workers from the isolated country also “continued to perform animation work from China in 2024 and 2025”, the report said.Under UN sanctions, North Korean workers are prohibited from earning money abroad.The MSMT comprises Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK and the United States.They found that cryptocurrency thefts — along with arms sales to Russia — made up the bulk of North Korea’s foreign earnings in 2024.North Korea has secured crucial backing from Russia in recent years, after sending weapons and thousands of North Korean troops to fight alongside Moscow’s forces against Ukraine.Pyongyang’s hackers looted at least $1.19 billion from companies worldwide — roughly 50 percent more than a year earlier, according to the report.Seoul’s intelligence agency last year said North Korean operatives had used LinkedIn to pose as recruiters and approach South Koreans working at defense firms to obtain information on their technologies.Although the overwhelming majority of North Korea’s overseas IT workers were based in China, the participating states of the report said they found Pyongyang “planned to dispatch a new deployment of 40,000 laborers to Russia, including several delegations of IT workers”.Between January and September this year, North Korean hackers have already taken at least $1.65 billion through large-scale crypto heists, “surpassing estimates of its 2024 total”, it added.And from January 2024 to September 2025, North Korea stole at least $2.8 billion in cryptocurrency, it said.

Alaska Airlines said Thursday it had temporarily suspended all flights due to a tech outage, three months after a similar incident.”Alaska Airlines is experiencing an IT outage affecting operations. A temporary ground stop is in place. We apologize for the inconvenience,” the Seattle-based company said on X.”If you’re scheduled to fly tonight, please check your flight status before heading to the airport.”The ground stop also affects its subsidiary Horizon Air, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.Three hours after the announcement was made, some passengers complained about a lack of information.”Everyone everywhere at SeaTac. No boarding no firm updates,” said one X user, Jeff Lawrence, posting a picture of a jam-packed airport waiting room.Alaska Airlines, the fifth-largest US carrier, experienced a similar outage on July 20, which lasted about three hours.Alaska Airlines attributed the July problem to the failure of “a critical piece of multi-redundant hardware at our data centers.”Alaska last year also experienced an IT outage that caused disruption and delayed flights.In January 2024, a door plug section of a new Boeing 737 Max 9 blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight between Portland, Oregon and Ontario, California.The 171 passengers and six crew members survived the rapid decompression, but the FAA temporarily grounded many Boeing 737-9 aircraft operated by US airlines.  

Composer William Barnett started his YouTube channel as an outlet for his music — but today he also uses it to debunk the steady stream of White House rhetoric on autism while sharing his own experience living with it.US President Donald Trump and his health secretary, anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, have made autism their talking point, calling it a “horror show” and “a crisis” while making unproven claims that it’s caused by vaccines or acetaminophen. “I just wonder if he sees us all as pawns,” the 29-year-old told AFP from his apartment in Queens, New York. Barnett — in a view that mirrors the medical community at large — sees the White House language as misinformation that only serves to drum up fear among parents and stigmatize people like himself.”It’s caused a lot of autistic people to believe that there’s something wrong with them, and that they don’t really have a place in our society,” Barnett told AFP.Autism spectrum disorder is a broad neurodevelopmental diagnosis that encompasses challenges related to social skills, communication and behavior.Traits vary widely, as does the degree to which one’s life is impacted. There is no known cause. A combination of genetic and environmental factors is likely involved, according to the World Health Organization.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that one in 31 children were found to have autism in 2022 — an increase that’s largely attributed to improved, broadened diagnosis methods along with growing awareness.- ‘Treated as a human’ -Barnett received multiple diagnoses related to autism, beginning at age three. Growing up in Los Angeles, “I just wanted to be normal,” he said. “I just kept thinking about what my life would look like if I was neurotypical.”The composer doesn’t feel that way today: he has a Master of Fine Arts in musical theatre from New York University, and has found that by embracing his diagnosis, his life has only grown richer.Barnett said he’s found “a second home” through the organization Autistic Adults NYC, an autistic-run nonprofit.The group recently took part in New York’s annual Disability Pride Parade, a Manhattan march bringing together a diverse crowd of mentally and physically disabled people along with allies and parents.Autistic Adults NYC member Sebastian Bonvissuto, 26, said the discourse in Washington has made him feel “frustrated” and “angry.””I feel like we are treated as we’re nothing in society,” he said. But people on the spectrum “think outside the box” he said, and “can contribute in so many different ways than other people would.”Members interviewed by AFP all said if the White House wants to help, they should focus on funding services and asking autistic people what they need, rather than casting their lives as diminished.Maryum Gardner, 26, called the White House position “dangerous.””It’s hard being a neurodivergent person in this world,” she said.But “it doesn’t matter who you are,” she said. “You still deserve to be treated as a human.”- ‘Human diversity’ -Barnett acknowledges that many people with autism have it harder than he does, with far more severe symptoms. Some parents have voiced feeling seen by Kennedy’s descriptions of their struggles.But even within that context, Barnett said, the health secretary’s comments are “over-generalizing” at best.Barnett said he’s lucky he received support from his family, at school and from specialists to be able to better cope with life in a world that isn’t always accepting.”My struggle goes beyond what you see on camera or how I present myself,” he said, pointing to years of speech and occupational therapy as well as socialization training.He has worked with experts including Elizabeth Laugeson, a UCLA psychiatry professor, whose decades of experience include developing social skills programming for youth and adults.Laugeson told AFP the White House rhetoric that’s hyper-focused on cures hearkens back to an “ugly past” of “fear-based and deficit-based language.””Autism isn’t a tragedy or something to be fixed for many people,” added Laugeson. “It’s a neurodevelopmental difference.””It’s part of human diversity.”

US President Donald Trump embarks on a major trip to Asia this week with all eyes on a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that has huge implications for the global economy.Trump said Wednesday he was making a “big trip” to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, his first visit to the region since he returned to the White House in a blaze of tariffs and geopolitical brinkmanship.The highlight will be his talks with Xi in South Korea, which Trump’s spokeswoman confirmed would take place on October 30 on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.Trump had previously threatened to scrap the meeting amid a flare-up in the trade war between Washington and Beijing, but he said Wednesday he now hoped for a “deal on everything.” The host nations are meanwhile set to roll out the red carpet to ensure they stay on the right side of the unpredictable 79-year-old, and win the best deals they can on tariffs and security assistance. – Malaysia and Japan – Trump will leave Washington on Friday and arrive on Sunday in Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit — a meeting Trump skipped several times in his first term.He is set to ink a trade deal with Malaysia — but more importantly to oversee the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia, as he continues his quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.”President Trump is keen to see the more positive results of the peace negotiations between Thailand and Cambodia,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.The US leader may also meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties after months of bad blood, officials from both countries told AFP.Trump’s next stop will be Tokyo on Monday and he will meet conservative Sanae Takaichi, named this week as Japan’s first woman prime minister, on Tuesday.Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States.” – Trump and Xi in South Korea -The climax of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due to land in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.Trump will then meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an APEC lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner, the White House said, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in the city of Gyeongju.The next day Trump will meet Xi for the first time since his return to office.Global markets will be watching closely to see if the two men can halt the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, especially after a recent row over Beijing’s rare earth curbs.Trump initially threatened to cancel the meeting and imposed fresh tariffs, before saying he would go ahead after all.He said Wednesday that he hoped to make a deal with Xi on “everything” and also hoped the Chinese leader could have a “big influence” on getting Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war.Analysts warned not to expect any breakthroughs.”The meeting will be a data point along an existing continuum rather than an inflection point in the relationship,” said Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution.South Korea, seeking its own trade deal, is reportedly considering the rare step of awarding Trump the Grand Order of Mugunghwa — the country’s highest decoration — during his visit. North Korea will also be on the agenda. The country fired multiple ballistic missiles on Wednesday, just days before Trump was due to visit.South Korea has halted tours in parts of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, officials said Thursday, fueling speculation of a new meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump has said he hopes to meet Kim again following several meetings during the US president’s first term, but there has been no confirmation of reports that the White House was looking at a new meeting this time.burs-dk/sst

An inmate convicted of murdering a man over a $200 drug debt by burning him alive was executed by nitrogen gas in the southern US state of Alabama on Thursday.Anthony Boyd, 54, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence, was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder two years earlier of 32-year-old Gregory Huguley.He was pronounced dead at 6:33 pm Central time (2333 GMT) at a state prison in the town of Atmore, the state department of corrections announced.At trial, prosecutors said that Boyd and three other men abducted Huguley at gunpoint because he allegedly failed to pay for $200 of cocaine.Huguley was driven to a baseball field, bound with duct tape, doused with gasoline and set on fire.Boyd was convicted largely on the testimony of a co-defendant, Quintay Cox, who was spared the death penalty.This was the 40th execution in the United States this year, the most since 2012, when 43 inmates were put to death.Florida has carried out the most executions with 14, followed by Texas and Alabama with five each.Nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causes the prisoner to suffocate.The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

US President Donald Trump has pardoned the convicted Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the White House press secretary said Thursday, accusing Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden of behaving in a “very hostile” manner toward the crypto industry.Binance was created in 2017, and swiftly became the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, turning Zhao into a billionaire.Following an investigation into the firm’s operations, Zhao pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money-laundering laws in late 2023, and served a four-month prison sentence for it in 2024.Zhao’s pardon could help pave the way for Binance to return to the United States, around two years after it agreed to suspend its US operations in a deal to resolve the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation.  “This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington on Thursday, accusing the previous administration of pursuing an “egregious over-sentencing of this individual.”The previous administration had also been “very hostile” to the cryptocurrency industry, she continued, adding that Trump had pardoned Zhao in order to “correct this overreach of the Biden administration’s mis-justice.”Trump later defended his decision, telling reporters at the White House that “a lot of people” had told him Zhao was not guilty.Binance has spent almost a year pursuing a pardon for Zhao, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, noting that Binance has been a “key supporter” of the Trump family’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial. Despite stepping down as chief executive in 2023, Zhao remains the majority shareholder of Binance.In a social media post on Thursday, he said he was “deeply” grateful to Trump for “upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.”Democrats were quick to criticize Trump’s decision to pardon the convicted crypto billionaire. “CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison. But then he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon. Today, he got it,” Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in a post on X. “If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it,” added Warren, a high-profile figure on the left of the party who sits on the US Senate’s finance committee. Since his presidential campaign, Trump has become a defender and promoter of the cryptocurrency sector, reversing his past criticism.He has eased the regulatory framework imposed on the cryptocurrency industry, which contributed more than $100 million to his reelection campaign.The Trump family’s various crypto businesses have netted them a pre-tax profit of around a billion dollars over the past 12 months, according to a recent Financial Times investigation.Trump’s pardon of Zhao follows a string of other similarly controversial moves, such as his decision to issue a blanket pardon for people convicted of violence in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The US president has also commuted the sentence of the disgraced former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was convicted of committing wire fraud and identity theft.