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Novembre 2017 - page 18

North Korean nuclear test ‘left 200 dead after tunnel collapse’, according to Japanese reports

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More than 200 people are feared to have died when a tunnel caved in at North Korea’s nuclear test site after its latest detonation, a Japanese news report said on Tuesday. A tunnel collapsed at Punggye-ri in early September, days after North Korea conducted its sixth and largest underground nuclear test on September 3, TV Asahi said. Some 100 workers were involved in an initial collapse. Another cave-in occurred during rescue operations, leaving at least 200 people feared dead in total, the Japanese broadcaster said. Experts have warned that the underground tests could cause the mountain to collapse and leak radiation into the atmosphere near China’s border. Lee Eugene, a spokeswoman at South Korea’s unification ministry, said: “We are aware of the report but do not know anything about it”.

 

NATO chief Stoltenberg calls North Korea “global threat ” during the Japan visit

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Stoltenberg is in Tokyo to meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other senior officials including defence minister Itsunori Onodera later in the day. “We are as concerned as you are about the provocative, reckless behaviour from North Korea,” he said in a speech to a group of security experts and defence officials. “It is really dangerous, it poses a direct threat to countries in this region [including] Japan, but it is also a global threat”, he added. Pyongyang has sparked global alarm in recent months by conducting its sixth nuclear test and test-launching missiles capable of reaching the US mainland, while US President Donald Trump and the North’s young ruler Kim Jong-Un have traded threats of war and personal insults. “NATO strongly support political, diplomatic, economic pressure on North Korea and we welcome the strengthening of the sanctions” adopted by the UN Security Council in September, Stoltenberg said. “But even more important, we need to be sure that the sanctions are fully and transparently implemented”, he added. Stoltenberg’s visit comes after Abe met with him in Brussels in July to agree on boosting security co-operation. “We know and you know that North Korea’s missile ranges reach the west coast of the United State and the ranges reach most of Europe”, he said Monday. But the NATO chief warned this month that military action against Pyongyang would have “devastating consequences”, after Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.

 

FM Dimitrov : “Macedonia must get dynamic European perspective”

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Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov launched Tuesday his Baltic tour with an official visit to Estonia, the current EU Presidency holder, meeting with counterpart Sven Mikser.Dimitrov briefed Mikser on the Government’s specific measures towards meeting the criteria for the start of EU accession talks and NATO membership. FM Mikser said Estonia was committed to the Union enlargement process and saluted the government’s reform efforts, reaffirming his country’s firm support to Macedonia’s EU and NATO accession, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a press release. Interlocutors also referred to the possibilities for more specific cooperation in meeting of EU membership criteria, with FM Mikser voicing Estonia’s readiness to share expertise in the fields of IT and digital administration. In the framework of the visit to Tallinn, FM Dimitrov met with members of the Estonian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, focusing on EU’s role in the enhancement of regional stability and prosperity, which can be seen in the Baltic case.

 

China supports Spanish unity amid Catalan independence declaration

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China Monday voiced support for the Spanish government’s effort to maintain national unity after the Catalan parliament declared independence Friday. “China’s stance on this issue is consistent and clear. China regards it as a domestic affair of Spain and understands and supports the Spanish government’s effort to maintain national unity, ethnic solidarity and territorial integrity”, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said when asked for comment at a regular news briefing held in Beijing. “China opposes moves to split the country and breach the rule of law and believes Spain is capable of protecting social order and citizens’ rights within the legal and institutional framework”, Hua said. China has developed friendly cooperation with Spain in various areas based on the principles of respect for each other’s sovereign and territorial integrity and non-interference in domestic affairs, the spokesperson said.

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