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	<title><![CDATA[iAfrica :: News : World News]]></title>
	<link>http://www.iafrica.com</link>
	<description><![CDATA[All the news that's fit to print.]]></description>
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<pubDate>2018-06-25 14:39:16</pubDate>
<content_id>1059997</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[China releases passports confiscated ]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[China releases passports confiscated ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Chinese authorities have said that passports confiscated from 51 South Africans who were scammed in Changchun, were released on Monday.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[Chinese authorities have told the Department of International Relations and Co-operation that passports confiscated from 51 young South Africans who were scammed in Changchun, were released on Monday.
They will now be able return to SA.
&quot;I am happy that this incident has been resolved. l want to make a call to all South Africans that they must familiarise themselves with the laws and regulations of countries they visit or apply for work. They must also ensure that they have the correct documentation before they travel&sbquo;&quot; International Relations and Co-operation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said.
The group was kept in China pending a court case against a Chinese agent who allegedly lured them to the foreign country with the promise of lucrative teaching jobs. However&sbquo; he allegedly did not disclose to the group the type of qualifications they needed and instead helped them to get student visas &mdash; despite the fact that they were going to be working in China.
Sisulu said that the department would launch a campaign in a few weeks&rsquo; time to raise awareness of all South African travellers&sbquo; entitled Travel Smart. The campaign will be aimed at encouraging South Africans to research their destinations and the laws of the countries in which they seek to visit or work.
&quot;We have too many South Africans in prisons across the world&sbquo; which is of concern. We want South Africans to research and gather all necessary information before they travel&sbquo; so as to avoid taking risks and involving themselves in activities that may be deemed illegal&sbquo;&quot; she added.
An official from the South African embassy in Beijing was due to travel to Changchun on Monday to provide consular assistance to the group.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. Credit: SOWETAN.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[Business Live]]></source></item>
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<pubDate>2018-06-12 09:51:10</pubDate>
<content_id>1059768</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Trump, Kim formed 'special bond']]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Trump, Kim formed 'special bond']]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Donald Trump has formed a &quot;special bond&quot; with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, he said Tuesday at the end of a historic meeting.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[Donald Trump has formed a &quot;special bond&quot; with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, he said Tuesday at the end of a historic meeting during which the two former foes pledged to meet again.
The pair signed what Trump called a &quot;pretty comprehensive&quot; and &quot;very important&quot; document, which spoke of &quot;new US-DPRK relations&quot; and committed Washington to &quot;security guarantees&quot;.
However, asked about denuclearisation -- the crux of the summit, Trump said &quot;we're starting that process&quot;, adding that it would begin &quot;very, very quickly.&quot;
For his part, Kim said the two Cold War foes had vowed to &quot;leave the past behind&quot;, pledging &quot;the world will see a major change.&quot;
The extraordinary summit -- unthinkable only months ago -- comes after the two nuclear-armed foes appeared on the verge of conflict late last year as they slung personal insults and Kim conducted nuclear and missile tests.
It was the first-ever meeting between sitting leaders of the two countries and was closely watched around the world.
&quot;We'll meet again,&quot; Trump said after a signing ceremony, standing with Kim on the verandah where they first met. &quot;We will meet many times.&quot;
Trump said he &quot;absolutely&quot; would be willing to invite Kim -- whose regime has been criticised for widespread human rights abuses -- to the White House.
Earlier, the pair shared warm words and a historic handshake as they sought to confront a nuclear stand-off and enmity stretching back decades.
The two men shook hands for several seconds beneath the white-washed walls of an upscale hotel in neutral Singapore, Trump reaching out to touch the North Korean leader on his right shoulder.
As they sat down for their tete-a-tete, the US leader -- who had said he would know &quot;within the first minute&quot; if a deal would be possible -- predicted a &quot;terrific relationship&quot; with Kim.
In Seoul, South Korean President Moon Jae-in watched live on television, telling his ministers, he &quot;could hardly sleep last night&quot;.
After huddling for around 40 minutes, Trump and Kim were joined by senior advisors before breaking for lunch, where prawn cocktail, short-rib confit, soy-braised cod, and vanilla ice-cream were among the options.
The imagery for the high-stakes meeting was undoubtedly positive and Kim Yong-hyun, professor at Dongguk University in Seoul said: &quot;The atmosphere of the summit looks very good.&quot;
&quot;It will be hard for this meeting to agree on specific deals but it carries considerable significance as a starting point,&quot; he said.
- 'Fire and fury' -
Some analysts have warned the summit could produce more style than substance and Kelly Magsamen, a former top Pentagon Asia specialist, said: &quot;We'll see if Kim actually gives him anything more than superficial pleasantries and some good TV.&quot;
Critics said the mere fact of the meeting meant Trump was legitimising Kim, who critics say runs a police state where human rights are routinely trampled.
&quot;It's a huge win for Kim Jong-un, who now &mdash;- if nothing else -&mdash; has the prestige and propaganda coup of meeting one-on-one with the president, while armed with a nuclear deterrent,&quot; said Michael Kovrig, Crisis Group Senior Adviser for North East Asia.
The warm words and positive optics seemed a different era from when Trump was threatening to rain down &quot;fire and fury&quot; on Pyongyang and Kim attacked Trump as a &quot;mentally deranged US dotard&quot;, as he fired off a series of provocative weapons tests.
The Singapore summit is a potentially legacy-defining meeting for both men -- comparable to president Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China, or Ronald Reagan's 1986 summit with Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik.
But many agreements have been made in the past with North Korea that have later fallen apart.
On the table is the vexed question of denuclearisation -- a word that means vastly different things to the two parties.
It remains far from clear that Pyongyang is willing to give up its nukes -&mdash; weapons that the regime sees as its ultimate guarantee of survival.
And on the eve of the meeting, aides for both men were still scrambling to narrow yawning differences.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the United States was willing to offer Pyongyang &quot;unique&quot; security guarantees if it denuclearises.
But the summit was more likely it is the start of a longer process of negotiation.
The discussions &quot;will set the framework for the hard work that will follow&quot;, Pompeo said.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Standing in front of the flags of their two countries, Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un made history in Singapore. Credit: AFP.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[AFP]]></source></item>
<item>
<pubDate>2018-05-23 11:59:56</pubDate>
<content_id>1059528</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Kim Jong Un's safety guaranteed if deal made]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Kim Jong Un's safety guaranteed if deal made]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Donald Trump guarantees North Korea's Kim Jong Un's safety if a deal is reached at a summit, but suggests he could get assassinated if not.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[US President Donald Trump guarantees North Korea's Kim Jong Un's safety if a deal is reached at a summit, but suggests he could get assassinated if not. CNN reports.
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<caption><![CDATA[Kim Jong Un. Credit: New York Post.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[CNN]]></source></item>
<item>
<pubDate>2018-05-11 11:55:12</pubDate>
<content_id>1059329</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Dept made error granting Grace diplomatic immunity]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Dept made error granting Grace diplomatic immunity]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Mugabe assaulted model Gabriella Engels at a hotel in August last year but was allowed to leave the country without being prosecuted.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[The High Court in Pretoria has heard that government had no regard for the rights of former Zimbabwe first lady&nbsp;Grace Mugabe&rsquo;s victim when she was granted diplomatic immunity.
This was among the arguments submitted on Thursday in an application by several parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA) and AfriForum to set aside Mugabe&rsquo;s immunity from prosecution.
Mugabe assaulted model&nbsp;Gabriella Engels&nbsp;at a hotel in August last year but was allowed to leave the country without being prosecuted.
Freedom Under Law argued that the International Relations Department committed an error in law when it granted Mugabe immunity from prosecution and had scant regard for the rights of her victim, Engels.
The DA and AfriForum earlier told the court that the former first lady was&nbsp;not entitled to immunity.
Counsel told the court that unlike a head of state where immunity is automatically granted, discretion is allowed where it relates to the head of state&rsquo;s spouse.
The International Relations Department submitted that granting of the immunity does not condone violent behaviour but it was obliged to in terms of the law.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Former Zimbabwe first lady Grace Mugabe attends the opening of the annual agricultural fair on 25 August 2017 in Harare. Credit: AFP.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[EWN]]></source></item>
<item>
<pubDate>2018-05-10 00:47:51</pubDate>
<content_id>1059316</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[World scrambles to save Iran deal]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[World scrambles to save Iran deal]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Trump faced diplomatic isolation as world powers scrambled to save a landmark deal curbing Iran's nuclear program that he has rejected.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[US President Donald Trump faced diplomatic isolation on Wednesday as world powers scrambled to save a landmark deal curbing Iran's nuclear program that he has rejected.
Trump's decision to withdraw from the accord and reimpose sanctions on the Islamic republic overturns years of diplomacy, could worsen instability in the Middle East and threatens business in Iran worth billions of dollars.
While Tehran's regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel applauded Trump's decision to pull Washington out of the 2015 accord, Iran reacted furiously to the move, with lawmakers burning a US flag and chanting &quot;Death to America.&quot;
French President Emmanuel Macron and Iran's Hassan Rouhani agreed Wednesday to work toward the continued implementation of the nuclear deal despite the US decision, which Macron called &quot;a mistake&quot;.
Earlier German Chancellor Angela Merkel said European signatories would &quot;do everything&quot; to ensure the agreement's parameters remain in place.
The pledges came as Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the government in Tehran it too should quit the nuclear deal unless Europeans offer solid guarantees that trade relations would continue.
Other signatories, including major trade partner Beijing, also promised to work to uphold the accord.
China insisted it would maintain &quot;normal economic and trade exchanges with Tehran&quot; and &quot;continue to devote itself to safeguard and implement the deal.&quot;
- Iran 'upholding commitments' -
Slapping aside more than a decade and a half of diplomacy by Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and past US administrations, Trump called Tuesday for a &quot;new and lasting deal.&quot;
He described the existing accord as an &quot;embarrassment&quot; to the United States that did nothing to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions.
But the UN's nuclear watchdog, which is charged with ensuring Iran abides by the terms of the deal, said Wednesday Tehran was upholding its &quot;nuclear-related commitments.&quot;
&ldquo;Iran is subject to the world's most robust nuclear verification regime,&quot; said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Yukiya Amano.
Trump said a deal with Iran would have to include not just deeper restrictions on its nuclear program, but on its ballistic missiles and support for militant groups across the Middle East.
In response, Rouhani warned Iran could resume uranium enrichment &quot;without limit&quot;.
But he also said Iran would discuss its response with other parties to the deal before announcing a decision.
Stoking fears of a Middle East arms race, Saudi Foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN the kingdom would pursue its own nuclear weapons if Iran resumed its alleged quest for the bomb.
Iran has always denied seeking a nuclear weapon, insisting its atomic program was for civilian purposes.
Doubling down on Wednesday, Trump told reporters at the White House there would be &quot;very severe consequences&quot; if Iran were to resume its nuclear enrichment program, which the 2015 deal curbed in exchange for sanctions relief.
- Oil rallies -
Trump's decision marked a stark diplomatic defeat for Europe, whose leaders urged the US president to think again.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis insisted Wednesday that the US would keep working with its allies to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons -- despite Trump's withdrawal from a deal designed to do just that.
&quot;We will continue to work alongside our allies and partners to ensure that Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon, and will work with others to address the range of Iran's malign influence,&quot; Mattis told a Senate panel.
Macron, who in recent weeks made a deliberately public effort to talk Trump around, said in an interview with German media that it was vital for the deal's other parties to reaffirm their commitment.
&quot;The Europeans' decision allows us to prevent Iran from immediately restarting their (nuclear) activities and to avoid escalating tensions,&quot; Macron said.
Rouhani for his part said Iran's economic interests would however need to be &quot;guaranteed&quot; in light of Trump's decision, the Iranian presidency's website said.
Trump's advisor John Bolton said earlier that European firms doing business in Iran have a six-month deadline to wind up investments or risk US sanctions.
The move offers Trump a domestic victory, fulfilling a longstanding campaign promise, and sent oil prices surging to levels not seen in three years -- but the long-term impact for US foreign policy and for the Middle East was less clear.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the United States will &quot;lose in the end&quot; from its decision, while Russia's Vladimir Putin expressed his country's &quot;deep concern&quot; over the US withdrawal.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[US President Donald Trump signed a document reinstating sanctions against Iran on May 8. Credit: AFP.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[AFP]]></source></item>
<item>
<pubDate>2018-05-07 14:56:03</pubDate>
<content_id>1059288</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Man mauled to death by bear]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Man mauled to death by bear]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Man was mauled to death by a bear after reportedly tried to take a selfie with the animal. Video contains graphic content and may disturb some viewers.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[A man was mauled to death by a bear after he reportedly tried to take a selfie with the creature in India.
According to a report, the man spotted the injured bear on his way home from a wedding in the Nabaranpur district of Odisha.
Despite being warned by his companions, he sidles up and the bear struck and a struggled ensued.
A stray dog reportedly tried to help the man during the attack, but its intervention failed to deter the larger animal.
India had the highest rate of deaths linked to selfies for the two years between March 2014 and September 2016.
In 2016, a teenage boy in India died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while taking a selfie.
The 15-year-old was posing with his father&rsquo;s .32 calibre pistol when he accidentally pulled the trigger.
At the same time, in March this year, a Zimbabwean man was killed while trying to take selfies with a hippopotamus.
The animal reportedly charged and fatally injured the man at a water source near his village.
WARNING: Video contains graphic content and may disturb some viewers.
WATCH: Bear attacks man trying to take a selfie with it.
]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Credit: Pixabay.com.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[EWN]]></source></item>
<item>
<pubDate>2018-05-03 14:48:31</pubDate>
<content_id>1059225</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Trump confirms 'reimbursement': porn star deal]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Trump confirms 'reimbursement': porn star deal]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Donald Trump confirmed a &quot;reimbursement&quot; as part of a hush agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels over allegations of a decade-old affair.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[US President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed a &quot;reimbursement&quot; as part of a hush agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels over allegations of a decade-old affair, but he said campaign money wasn't involved.
Trump's comments in a series of tweets, which contradicted his earlier denials of knowledge of a payment to Daniels, came after former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a member of the president's legal team, said Trump reimbursed his long-time lawyer Michael Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Daniels.
Cohen &quot;received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement,&quot; the non-disclosure agreement involving Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Clifford, who alleges an intimate relationship with Trump from 2006 to 2007, has filed suit in Los Angeles to declare that agreement invalid.
&quot;The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair, despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair,&quot; Trump said.
&quot;Prior to its violation by Ms Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction,&quot; he wrote, misspelling &quot;role.&quot;
Clifford signed the hush agreement days before the November 2016 presidential election, which Trump won.
Such contracts, while legal, have frequently been used by powerful men to hush up affairs, workplace harassment or even alleged sexual abuse.
&quot;These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms Clifford (Daniels),&quot; Trump said in his Thursday tweets.
On April 5, Trump offered a flat &quot;no&quot; when asked if he knew about the payment that was made by his lawyer.
Trump said he did not know why Cohen made the payment. &quot;You'll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You'll have to ask Michael.&quot;
Asked if he knew where the money came from, Trump told reporters on Air Force One, &quot;No, I don't know.&quot;
The watchdog group Common Cause filed a federal complaint in January arguing that the payout may have violated campaign finance rules.
On Wednesday, Giuliani told Fox News host Sean Hannity the money &quot;was paid by his lawyer, the way I would do, out of his law firm funds or whatever funds, it doesn't matter. The president reimbursed that over a period of several months.&quot;
Cohen, whose office the FBI raided last month, is under investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations, The Washington Post reported last month.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[US President Donald Trump confirms reimbursing his personal lawyer for a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels (R). Credit: Getty Images/ AFP.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[AFP]]></source></item>
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<pubDate>2018-04-11 14:55:25</pubDate>
<content_id>1058860</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Court refuse to drop case - Reuters journalists]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Court refuse to drop case - Reuters journalists]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[A Myanmar court on Wednesday rejected a motion to drop a case against two Reuters journalists arrested while investigating a massacre.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[A Myanmar court on Wednesday rejected a motion to drop a case against two Reuters journalists arrested while investigating a massacre of Rohingya Muslims, even as seven soldiers were given lengthy sentences for their role in the killings.
Reporters Wa Lone, 32 and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27 were detained in December and accused of violating the country's Official Secrets Act for possessing material relating to security operations in conflict-hit Rakhine state.
Myanmar has faced global condemnation and accusations of extrajudicial killings, ethnic cleansing and genocide as some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine to Bangladesh following a military crackdown on insurgents.
The government rejects the allegations and says it was defending itself against attacks from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which occurred on August 25.
The two reporters have been held in Yangon's Insein prison since their arrest while facing hearings to determine whether the case will go to trial, with 17 out of 25 witnesses having given testimony.
Their lawyers asked the court last week to dismiss the case, citing in part troubling discrepancies in witness statements, but the motion was swiftly rejected in a Yangon courtroom packed with supporters, family and media.
&quot;The court decided that the proposal from the defendants' lawyer to release the defendants before all the witnesses were cross-examined has been rejected,&quot; judge Ye Lwin said.
The pair had been investigating a massacre of 10 Rohingya men on September 2 in the Rakhine village of Inn Din that was carried out by security forces and local villagers.
The military admitted that the atrocity took place and Reuters later published the story while the reporters were in prison.
- Soldiers jailed -
In a rare punishment in a country where the military has long operated with impunity, seven soldiers were sentenced to jail with hard labour for their part in the killings, according to a Facebook post by the army chief late Tuesday.
The army has claimed the Rohingya men were &quot;terrorists&quot; but has not presented any evidence to back up the claim.
Wa Lone referred to the sentencing of the soldiers as he was being directed back into the police van following the hearing.
&quot;Those who killed people in the mass killing were given a sentence of 10 years. We were simply trying to find out the news and report this and we are facing a trial that could result in us going to prison for 14 years,&quot; he said.
One of his lawyers Than Zaw Aung also compared the cases.
&quot;My question is why are the journalists still in detention in prison if their report is true?&quot;
The US embassy in Yangon said that while the verdict handed down in the Inn Din massacre case was an encouraging sign, &quot;it merely underscores that Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who sought to expose that crime, should be free&quot;.
The prosecution of the journalists has proceeded despite international calls for their release. Last month Reuters announced that prominent rights attorney Amal Clooney had joined the legal team.
Reuters president Stephen J. Adler said in a statement that the company is &quot;deeply disappointed&quot; with the court's decision.
&quot;We believe that there are solid grounds for the court to dismiss this matter and to release our journalists. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were reporting on issues in Myanmar in an independent and impartial way,&quot; he said.
&quot;They have not violated any laws in the course of their newsgathering and were simply doing their jobs.&quot;
James Gomez, Amnesty International's regional director, called the court development &quot;appalling&quot; and pointed to an &quot;alarming erosion&quot; in media freedom in Myanmar.
&quot;The decision to press forward with this case sends a clear message to journalists operating in the country that certain topics remain off-limits, with dire consequences for those who dare address them, however peacefully,&quot; he said.
Family members of the reporters were in tears after the ruling.
But Wa Lone, who turned 32 on Wednesday and was brought cake by his friends, still expressed optimism.
&quot;I believe in democracy. I also believe that one day we will be released because of freedom of expression,&quot; he said.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Myanmar journalists Kyaw Soe Oo (C) and Wa Lone (R), were arrested while investigating an army-led massacre of Rohingya Muslims. Credit: AFP.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[AFP]]></source></item>
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<pubDate>2018-04-06 14:32:16</pubDate>
<content_id>1058770</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[S. Korea's Park jailed for 24 years]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[S. Korea's Park jailed for 24 years]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[South Korea's disgraced former president Park Geun-hye was jailed for 24 years Friday for corruption, completing a dramatic fall from grace.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[South Korea's disgraced former president Park Geun-hye was jailed for 24 years Friday for corruption, completing a dramatic fall from grace for the country's first woman leader who became a figure of public fury and ridicule.
A trial which lasted more than 10 months and highlighted shady links between big business and politics in South Korea ended with Park being found guilty on multiple criminal charges, including bribery and abuse of power.
Park's successor described the sentencing as a &quot;heartbreaking event&quot; for both the nation and the ex-leader herself.
&quot;The accused abused the power bestowed by the people -- the true ruler of this country -- to cause chaos in national administration,&quot; said Judge Kim Se-yoon, delivering the ruling.
Park, 66, was convicted of receiving or demanding more than $20 million from conglomerates, sharing secret state documents, &quot;blacklisting&quot; artists critical of her policies, and firing officials who resisted her abuses of power.
&quot;Despite all these crimes, the accused denied all the charges against her, displayed no remorse and showed an incomprehensible attitude by blaming Choi and other... officials,&quot; Kim said, referring to Park's secret confidante and long-time friend Choi Soon-sil.
Park was also ordered to pay a fine of 18 billion won ($17 million).
When the wide-ranging corruption scandal broke last year it prompted massive street protests against Park across the country.
On Friday, the verdict was greeted with public displays of outrage and grief by several hundred Park supporters who had gathered outside the courthouse.
Many protesters sat or lay in the road crying, while others formed a protest rally calling for her release.
&quot;The rule of law in this country is dead today,&quot; said Han Geun-hyung, a 27-year-old Park supporter.
Park herself was not in court for Friday's judgement which, in a rare move, was broadcast live on television. She had boycotted most sessions of the trial in protest at being held in custody.
Instead she was informed of her fate at a Seoul detention centre, where she sat in a reception hall with her lawyer awaiting the outcome, Yonhap news agency reported.
She now has seven days in which to file an appeal.
Park becomes the third former South Korean leader to be convicted on criminal charges after leaving office, joining Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, who were both found guilty of treason and corruption in the 1990s.
Judge Kim said he had passed a tough sentence to &quot;prevent such an unfortunate event from happening again&quot;.
The presidential Blue House said in a statement after the verdict: &quot;Each person must have different feelings about former President Park Geun-hye. But a bleak wind blew through the hearts of all of us today.
&quot;It is a heartbreaking event for the nation as well as for the person's life. A history that is not remembered is bound to be repeated. We will not forget today.&quot;
- A Korean 'Rasputin'? -
Park, the daughter of dictator Park Chung-hee, lost both her parents to assassins. She took office in 2013 as a conservative icon who cast herself in the role of daughter of the nation -- incorruptible and beholden to none.
Less than four years later, she was impeached, stripped of all her powers and ousted from office on the back of months-long mass protests that brought millions on to the streets of Seoul and other cities.
Much of the public anger was focused on Park's relationship with Choi and accusations that she let her friend -- who held no formal position or security clearance -- meddle in state affairs, including high-level appointments and editing official speeches.
Choi is the daughter of a shadowy religious figure who had served as a mentor to Park for decades until his death in 1994. She was tried separately and sentenced in February to 20 years in prison.
Condemned in the media for her &quot;Rasputin-like&quot; influence over Park, Choi was convicted of using her presidential ties to squeeze tens of millions of dollars out of major South Korean businesses, including Samsung -- the world's top smartphone maker -- and retail giant Lotte.
- 'No remorse' -
Former leaders Chun and Roh received presidential pardons after each spent around two years in jail -- a privilege that may elude Park for many years, said Jeong Han-wool, an analyst at think tank Hankook Research.
&quot;Given her attitude and public anger over her scandal that remains raw, it will be difficult to create a political environment in favour of her release any time soon,&quot; Jeong told AFP.
Park's left-leaning successor Moon Jae-in came to power largely because of the public backlash against Park and her conservative party, dimming hopes for a pardon under the current administration, he added.
Chun Sang-chin, sociology professor at Seoul's Sogang University, said the verdict could also spell bad news for Park's immediate predecessor Lee Myung-bak, who is in custody as prosecutors investigate multiple corruption charges involving him and his relatives.
&quot;This is a good news for people who took to the street with candles but a nightmare for Lee Myung-bak,&quot; Chun told AFP.
Park's core supporters have always seen her as a heroically tragic figure who devoted her life to the service of her country despite childhood tragedy.
But for the vast majority of Koreans, she has now been permanently disowned, and will go down in history not as the country's first woman president but the first democratically elected leader to be forced from office.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[The verdict was greeted with public displays of outrage and grief by Park supporters. Credit: AFP.]]></caption>
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<pubDate>2018-04-02 08:07:37</pubDate>
<content_id>1058710</content_id>
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<heading><![CDATA[Prisoner or free man? Mystery of Kadhafi's son]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Prisoner or free man? Mystery of Kadhafi's son]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[After a Libyan militia announced it had set free son and heir apparent of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, the fate of Seif al-Islam remains a mystery.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[Nearly a year after a Libyan militia announced it had set free the son and heir apparent of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, the fate of Seif al-Islam remains a mystery.
His reported release from detention by the Abu Bakr al-Sadiq Brigade which once controlled the town of Zintan in western Libya has never been confirmed and has fuelled wild rumours.
While some insist he is still somewhere in Zintan, others claim Seif is dead.
One thing is certain, however: he has not been seen or heard of since June 2014 when he appeared via video from Zintan during his trial by a Tripoli court.
And now Seif is back in the news, after France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy was charged in Paris with financing his 2007 election campaign with money from Kadhafi.
In a 2011 interview with the Euronews television network, Seif said Sarkozy must &quot;give back the money he took from Libya to finance his electoral campaign&quot;.
Seif al-Islam -- whose name means &quot;sword of Islam&quot; -- was captured by the Zintan-based militia in November 2011, days after Kadhafi was killed in a NATO-backed uprising against his decades-old rule.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is in a legal tug-of-war with Libyan authorities to transfer Seif to The Hague, where he is wanted for crimes against humanity including murder.
But in July 2015, a Tripoli court sentenced the now 45-year-old to death in absentia along with eight other Kadhafi-era figures.
According to several Libyan sources, and diplomats, Seif has not left Zintan, a largely tribal town 170 kilometres (105 miles) southwest of Tripoli and one of the cradles of the 2011 uprising.
- 'Still a prisoner'? -
But is he a prisoner? No one in Zintan, a town of 40,000 inhabitants, is willing to give a clear answer.
&quot;Yes. He is still a prisoner,&quot; Mokhtar al-Akhdar, a member of Zintan's military council which groups the town's key militias, said categorically when asked about Seif.
&quot;Even if he is not a prisoner, he is wanted by the ICC... and he has nowhere to go,&quot; he quickly added, throwing more doubt on Seif's fate.
Chaaban al-Marhani, one of the town's tribal leaders, also provided a confusing account of Seif's whereabouts.
&quot;He is here (in Zintan) and his is a prisoner but his fate in not in the hands of Zintan.&quot;
A member of the security services, speaking on condition of anonymity, added to the confusion.
&quot;In any case Seif al-Islam was never really a prisoner in the full meaning of the word. Ever since his arrest he has been under home arrest... not in a prison,&quot; he said.
The Abu Bakr al-Sadiq Brigade which captured him more than six years ago had repeatedly refused to hand Seif over to authorities in Tripoli or the ICC.
The group said it released him in June 2017 as part of a general amnesty decreed by a parliament based in eastern Libya but legal experts said Seif was not included in the amnesty.
The militia -- which Zintan residents say was disbanded nearly a year ago -- failed to persuade anyone when it announced his release a year ago because it had also reported setting him free a few months earlier.
- Criminal on the run? -
Omar Gaith, a member of parliament from Zintan, said he &quot;cannot confirm or deny the liberation of Seif&quot;.
&quot;Seif al-Islam is considered a criminal and a fugitive. If he is arrested he will be put on trial again,&quot; he said.
The Tripoli court sentenced Seif to death, along with other Kadhafi-era officials, for crimes, including murder and complicity to incite rape during the 2011 uprising -- a verdict criticised by the United Nations and human rights groups.
Due to the nature of these crimes &quot;he can not benefit from any amnesty,&quot; said the office of the prosecutor general in Tripoli.
The ICC prosecutor was not available for comment on Seif's fate.
In 2015 the court said it was verifying his whereabouts, reiterating its demand for his arrest and transfer to The Hague.
Meanwhile the mystery surrounding Seif continues to grow, including by diehard Kadhafi regime supporters.
On March 19, a man speaking from Tunis and claiming to represent Seif said Kadhafi's son would run in Libya's next presidential election.
The claim was rejected by the Abu Bakr al-Sadiq Brigade which said on its Facebook page that it had &quot;contacted&quot; Seif who insists he has not entrusted anyone to represent him.
The militia's commander, Ajmi Laatiri, could not be reached for comment.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[File photo of Saif al-Islam, son of the late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi. Credit: AFP.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[AFP]]></source></item>
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