UK
http://
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5692143/Former-DJ-Jonathan-King-stand-trial-charged-string-historical-sexual-abuse-offences.html
Fake news probably
Identified as Mr Kang, a colonel in his 50s with the Ministry of State Security.
Vanished from Zhongpu International Hotel in Shenyang on February 25.
Claims he was in charge of intelligence-gathering and ground operations.
High-ranking espionage officer thought to be elite of North Korean society.
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://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5692533/Assassins-dispatched-hunt-high-ranking-espionage-officer-fled-UK-nuclear-secrets.html
Former Secretary of State John Kerry has reportedly engaged in clandestine diplomacy with a top Iranian official in an attempt to salvage the nuclear deal framework.
Kerry, who brokered the Iran deal for the Obama administration, met with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif about two weeks ago at the United Nations in Manhattan, a person briefed on the meetings told the Boston Globe.
The meeting was their second in two weeks, and came amid a whirlwind of meetings between Kerry and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, European Union official Federica Mogherini, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
President Donald Trump has threatened to reimpose sanctions on Iran at the next deadline for certifying Iran's compliance with the deal, which comes on May 12.
Kerry's flurry of clandestine diplomacy highlights his desperation to save the Iran nuclear deal, which he sees as a signature achievement.
The deal, between Iran and the five permanent members of the US security council, plus Germany and the EU, saw Iran agree to halt its nuclear weapons program for a decade in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Kerry's involvement in trying to preserve the deal after leaving office came as a surprise to foreign policy experts.
'It is unusual for a former secretary of state to engage in foreign policy like this, as an actual diplomat and quasi-negotiator,' Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution, told the Globe.
'Of course, former secretaries of state often remain quite engaged with foreign leaders, as they should, but it's rarely so issue-specific, especially when they have just left office.'
The shadowy diplomacy will raise questions of a violation of the Logan Act, which prohibits private citizens acting on behalf of the United States during a dispute with foreign governments.
But the obscure 18th century law has never been used to prosecute anyone - although it was raised to criticize Mike Flynn for his discussions with the Russian ambassador after the 2016 election.
Macron, whom Kerry met with in New York and Paris, in meetings conducted in both English and French, has been actively lobbying Trump to remain in the Iran deal.
The French president said this week that that leaving the deal could mean war.
Meanwhile, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing Trump to take a more aggressive posture toward Iran, Israel's archenemy.
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This week Netanyahu gave a presentation claiming he had proof that Iran 'lied' about its past nuclear weapons program.
On Thursday, Zarif threated to withdraw from the nuclear deal, saying Iran will not 'renegotiate or add onto' the deal.
The five-minute video shows Zarif behind his desk, delivering his message on the deal. He offers background first about the deal before laying into Trump and criticizing Europe for offering 'the United States more concessions from our pocket.'
'On 11 occasions since, the U.N. nuclear watchdog has confirmed that Iran has implemented all of its obligations,' Zarif, who studied in the U.S., says in American-accented English. 'In contrast, the U.S. has consistently violated the agreement, especially by bullying others from doing business with Iran.'
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://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5693607/John-Kerry-secretly-met-Iranian-official.html
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//www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5693607/John-Kerry-secretly-met-Iranian-official.html
McCain gets visits from friends, family after surgery
BY LAURIE KELLMAN, ALAN FRAM AND BOB CHRISTIE
1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — A frail Sen. John McCain has been receiving a stream of visitors and good wishes at his Arizona ranch as he confronts the aftermath of brain cancer treatment and surgery.
Former Vice President Joe Biden sat with McCain for 90 minutes Sunday, according to people close to both men. Biden followed McCain's closest friends, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and retired Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who visited McCain at the Mayo Clinic two weeks ago. McCain's daughter, Meghan, tweeted Friday that she was heading to her father's side.
"Going home to Arizona to be with my family," she tweeted. "Thank you all again for your prayers, patience, understanding and compassion during this time. It means the world to me and my entire family."
McCain, 81, had hoped to return to the Senate, where he's served since 1987. He has been unable to do so after cancer treatment and surgery for an intestinal infection last month. Despite that, he's finished work on a new book being released May 22, "The Restless Wave." And he continued to advocate for a return to the days when partisans could disagree without demonizing each other.
"I'd like to see us recover our sense that we're more alike than different," McCain said in audio excerpts from his book reported by National Public Radio……..
https
://apnews.com/cf8161922f774b3aae330ac5a52c2f31
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://apnews.com/7951f1c48abc43c3ab2f87f3c5c60b0c