Author: RT

Seoul says N. Korea’s recent test was ‘of rocket engine’ South Korea’s defense minister said on Tuesday that Pyongyang’s recent unspecified test at a rocket liftoff site was of a rocket engine, amid speculation the North was making preliminary steps toward a prohibited long-range rocket launch, AP reported. Jeong Kyeong-doo said during a visit to Sydney that Seoul expressed its “deep concerns” over the engine test and North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launches into the sea, according to his office in Seoul. It was the first official outside assessment of what North Korea called “a very important test” at its Tongchang-ri rocket launch site. The North’s Academy of National Defense Science said on Sunday the test will have “an important effect on changing the strategic posi...

Qatar sends prime minister to Gulf summit, sign of potential thaw in regional rift Qatar is sending its prime minister to a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, its highest level of representation at the annual meeting in two years, Reuters said. The move is seen as the most concrete sign yet of a potential thaw in a regional dispute. Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani will head Qatar’s delegation to the gathering of US-allied Gulf Arab leaders, according to state news agency QNA. His attendance follows a recent intensification of efforts to resolve the row that has seen Riyadh and its allies impose a political and economic boycott against Qatar since June 2017 over allegations Doha backs terrorism. Qatar denies the charges and accu...

Shooting at Czech hospital leaves at least 4 killed, suspect reportedly on the run Several people have been killed in a hospital shooting in Ostrava, the Czech Republic, the country’s interior minister said. The local police reported four fatalities and two people with serious injuries in the incident. The shooting happened on Tuesday morning at the Ostrava Teaching Hospital in the northeastern part of the country. The unidentified suspect remains at large, according to the Czech police. DETAILS TO FOLLOW Shooting at Czech hospital leaves at least 4 killed, suspect reportedly on the run Source: RT

Duterte to lift martial law in S. Philippines by year’s end – aide President Rodrigo Duterte will lift martial law in the southern Philippines by year’s end, his spokesman said on Tuesday. Duterte put the Mindanao region under military rule in May 2017, hours after gunmen flying the black Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) flag seized the mainly Muslim city of Marawi, sparking a five-month battle that left 1,200 people dead, AFP said. The presidential palace “is confident on the capability of our security forces in maintaining the peace and security of Mindanao without extending martial law” beyond December 31, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said. Duterte’s security advisers had informed him of the “weakening of the terrorist and extremist rebellion,” he added. Martial ...