SEOUL : North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has had his official party title changed, state media reported Monday, assuming a position previously held by his late father in what analysts said was a move to bolster his authority.The North Korean economy is struggling in the face of self-imposed coronavirus isolation, and is subject to multiple sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.At the same time, nuclear talks with the United States have been deadlocked since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in February 2019.The ruling Workers' Party of Korea "unanimously adopted" a decision to elect Kim as general secretary at its congress on Sunday, the official KCNA news agency reported."All the delegates expressed full support with stormy applause in great excitement," it said.The South Korean military said it detected signs that a military parade may have been staged Sunday night for the congress.The last such gathering five years ago had named Kim as party chairman in what was largely seen as a formal coronation for the leader, who was in his early 30s at the time.The new title comes after Kim pledged at the meeting to strengthen his nuclear-armed nation's
Giovanni, a Rose Park tennis pal, sent me a picture of the Trevi fountain in its nocturnal serenity. I shot back: bellissimo! We communicate by gadget since he went home — Sicily, but he works in Rome. He sends me stunning photographs (maybe he missed his vocation, but I am sure he is a fine economist) of his country in these strange times. He replied to my compliment on his snap of the world’s most famous fountain with a sigh, “But awfully empty” — as it seemed empty to one used to the place’s usual affluence of admirers. So as happens with these gadgets in these times, we had one of our light-hearted, or should I say light-headed, back and forths. There is no emptiness where beauty lives …. no, that is too sentimental. There is no emptiness where the presence of God fills the soul … maybe, but that’s kind of Jewish (and why should it not be being on the eve of the birthday of the most famous Jewish child in history?). Well then, there is no emptiness when we are brothers in Jesus Christ … maybe, but that’s kind of Catholic (and in Rome why should it
WASHINGTON - Twitter permanently suspended President Donald Trump’s account on Friday (Jan 8) due to “the risk of further violence”, two days after it temporarily locked him out and warned that he would be banned for good if he continued to incite violence and share false claims of electoral fraud. The fallout from Wednesday’s mob attack on the Capitol as Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, which many in Washington saw as having been incited by Mr Trump, continued to deepen on Friday. In a statement, Twitter said that two of Mr Trump’s tweets could inspire others to replicate violent acts , and “were highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts” at the Capitol on Jan 6. The President had tweeted on Friday: “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!” Twitter said that the use of the words “American Patriots” to describe some of his supporters was being interpreted as “support for those committing violent acts at
