North Korea to attend Olympics in rival South
Seoul: North Korea will send its athletes to the Winter Olympics in the South, the rivals said today after their first formal talks in more than two years following high tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
The two sides also decided to hold military talks to ease tensions and to restore a military hotline closed since February 2016.
Seoul and Olympic organisers have been keen for Pyongyang - which boycotted the 1988 Summer Games in the South Korean capital -- to take part in what they repeatedly proclaimed a "peace Olympics" in Pyeongchang next month.
But the North had given no indication it would do so until leader Kim Jong-Un's New Year address last week, instead pursuing its banned weapons programmes in defiance of United Nations sanctions, launching missiles capable of reaching the United States and detonating its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.
"The North Korean side will dispatch a National Olympic Committee delegation, athletes, cheerleaders, art performers' squad, spectators, a taekwondo demonstration team and a press corps and the South will provide necessary amenities and facilities," they said in a joint statement.
Today's talks were held in Panmunjom, the truce village in the Demilitarised Zone that splits the peninsula.
The North's delegation walked over the Military Demarcation Line marking the border to the Peace House venue on the southern side, just yards from where a defector ran across in a hail of bullets two months ago.
Looking business-like, the South's Unification minister Cho Myoung-Gyon and the North's chief delegate Ri Son-Gwon shook hands at the entrance to the building, and again across the negotiating table.
Ri wore a badge on his left lapel bearing an image of the country's founding father Kim Il-Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-Il, while Cho sported one depicting the South Korean flag.
"Let's present the people with a precious new year's gift," said Ri. "There is a saying that a journey taken by two lasts longer than the one travelled alone."
The atmosphere was friendlier than at past meetings, and Cho told Ri: "The people have a strong desire to see the North and South move toward peace and reconciliation."
But there was no mention in the joint statement of a proposal by Seoul to resume reunions of families left divided by the Korean War, or of an offer by the North to send a high-level delegation to the Games.
Even so it was a radically different tone from the rhetoric of recent months, which have seen the North's leader Kim Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump trade personal insults and threats of war.
Pyongyang has defied international pressure in recent months and launched missiles capable of reaching the US mainland, as well as testing what it said was a hydrogen bomb.
Seoul has been keen to proclaim the Games in Pyeongchang, just 80 kilometres south of the DMZ, a "peace Olympics" but it needed Pyongyang to attend to make the description meaningful.
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8 children between ages of 1 and 14 dead after mass shooting in Louisiana, police say
Shreveport(US) (AP): A gunman in Louisiana killed eight children in shootings at two different homes early Sunday in the nation's deadliest mass shooting in more than two years, police in Shreveport said.
The victims ranged in age from one to about 14 years old, said Shreveport police spokesperson Chris Bordelon. A total of 10 were shot and some of the children were related to the suspect, Bordelon said.
The gunman later died after a chase with officers who fired at the suspect, Bordelon said. The suspect stole a car while leaving the scene of the shootings and was followed by police, according to Bordelon.
Police did not release the name of the suspect but did say he was an adult male. The shootings were the result of a “domestic disturbance,” Bordelon said.
Officials said they were still gathering details at the crime scenes south of downtown Shreveport — the two homes and a third location.
“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” he said.
It was the deadliest mass shooting in the US since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community as they sorted through multiple crime scenes.
“I just don't know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”
“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we've ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. “It's a terrible morning.”
Louisiana State Police say their detectives have been asked by Shreveport police to investigate. In a statement, state police say no officers were harmed in the shooting that involved an officer after a police pursuit into Bossier City on Sunday morning.
State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.
Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry said in a statement that he and his wife were heartbroken. “We're deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers and first responders working tirelessly on the scene,” he added.
