In the World
NORTH KOREA
U.S. must apologize to win release of two, experts say
The United States government must make a formal apology to secure the freedom of two Americans who remain imprisoned in North Korea after the release this week of Jeffrey Fowle, North Korean legal experts said Thursday.
Although North Korea released Fowle, getting Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae out of prison will likely require an official statement of apology and formal request for their release from Washington, according to the two North Korean law experts who spoke to the Associated Press.
Fowle, who had not yet been tried in a court, was flown out of North Korea on a U.S. military jet Tuesday after being detained six months for leaving a Bible in a nightclub in the city of Chongjin, where he was visiting with a foreign tour group. North Korean state media said he was released after leader Kim Jong Un granted him a special pardon following "repeated requests" from President Obama.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "I can assure anyone that I don't believe there's an apology forthcoming," - AP
BELGIUM
Deal reached on emissions
European leaders have agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the 28-nation bloc to at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The deal is aimed at countering climate change and setting an example for the rest of the world ahead of key international climate negotiations next year. A package agreed to at an EU summit early Friday also requires renewable energy to provide at least 27 percent of the bloc's needs. - AP
CHINA
AIDS activist barred
An AIDS activist said Thursday that she has been forced to cancel a trip to a U.N. conference on discrimination against women after authorities seized her passport. China's first lady, Peng Liyuan, is a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and she told a national conference in Beijing this week that she wanted to promote efforts to end bias against those who have the disease. But the activist, Wang Qiuyun, 47, said authorities in her native Henan province seized her passport this week, visited her home several times, and told her not to leave the city of Hebi. Authorities in Henan could not be reached for comment. - Washington Post