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China's Xi visits sensitive North Korean border area

Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited a sensitive border area with North Korea populated by ethnic Koreans, state media said on Friday, amid tension over the North’s disputed nuclear program and killings blamed on North Korean troops. While the report made no direct mention of North Korea, a country Xi has yet to visit since assuming power in late 2012, he talked up Yanbian’s agricultural prowess – something that stands

Iran: Nuclear deal is new chance for regional cooperation

By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin Nouri DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran, embarking on a diplomatic offensive in the wake of its nuclear deal with world powers, told fellow Muslim countries on Friday it hoped the historic accord could pave the way for more cooperation in the Middle East and internationally. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the comment in a message to Islamic and Arab countries on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr

Japan rips up 2020 Olympic stadium plan

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday ordered plans for Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic stadium to be ditched amid public anger over its $2 billion price tag. The decision means the organisers of the 2019 Rugby World Cup will have to find a new venue for the final. “I have decided we must go back to the drawing board,” Abe told reporters after meeting top Japanese sports officials.

Italians set fire to beds in anti-migrant protests

Residents in a chic Rome suburb and a northern Italian village staged angry anti-immigrant protests on Friday, with villagers setting mattresses ablaze in a bid to stop authorities from housing migrants. Authorities in the village of Quito plan to accommodate 101 immigrants in empty apartments, but several residents broke into one of the buildings, removed camp beds, mattresses and televisions intended for the newcomers and set them on fire outside.