SEOUL -- South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul on Friday stressed a need for an interim deal in denuclearization talks between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States as part of efforts to keep the dialogue momentum alive.
Kim made the remark during a press conference with local reporters, saying a tentative agreement as the stepping stone to a final agreement, that is to say a "wisdom of modus vivendi," would be necessary to keep situations from worsening and revive the negotiations momentum. (S. Korea-DPRK-U.S.-Talks)
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KABUL -- Twenty-one militants, including a Taliban shadow provincial governor, were killed in an Afghan Air Force sortie in eastern Laghman province on Thursday night in a latest raid against the insurgents, the country's Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday.
"A total of 21 Taliban fighters including Zain-Alabidin, the shadow governor of Laghman, were killed in an airstrike conducted by Afghan National Army (ANA) Air Force in Alishing district of Laghman overnight," the ministry said in a statement. (Afghanistan-Taliban-Raid)
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MANILA -- The death toll from the Typhoon Phanfone that pounded the central Philippines with heavy rains and strong winds beginning on Tuesday climbed to 28, the government said on Friday.
The Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said 13 died in Iloilo, four in Capiz, two in Aklan, one in Cebu, one in Southern Leyte, two in Leyte, one in Biliran, three in Eastern Samar and one in Samar, provinces in the central Philippines. (Philippines-Typhoon-Deaths)
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KATHMANDU -- Nepal's National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) said that it had achieved 83 percent progress on average in the post-earthquake reconstruction.
The NRA established to fast track the reconstruction process entered into the fifth year on Wednesday. (Nepal-Quake-Reconstruction) Enditem
