News Headlines - 28 September 2018
Given the Trump administration's goal of a complete, verifiable denuclearization of North Korea during President Trump's first term, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is eager to maintain U.S.-North Korean engagement. As he prepares for upcoming discussions with the North Koreans, he is leaving one tool conspicuously on the table: the prospect of an official declaration to end the Korean War... By leaving open the possibility, Pompeo is affirming that the U.S. is open to some form of negotiation with the North Koreans to achieve denuclearization -- and he's showing up armed with more than just demands. The Trump administration, which argues its efforts have averted war, insists it will press forward with the conversations with North Korea after a late summer stall in the dialogue.
▽Japan to give up on daylight saving time for 2020 Olympics: report - Japan Today
Japan will not introduce daylight saving time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo because public opinion is against the proposal, the Asahi Newspaper reported on Thursday.
Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics originally floated the idea of setting clocks back one to two hours after scorching heat this summer killed at least 120 people, raising concerns about the safety of athletes, particularly marathon runners.
The Games will be held in late July and early August, Japan's hottest, most humid months.
▽Mystery behind France's 'Origin of the World' painting is revealed - France 24
The identity of the model who posed for one of the most controversial paintings of the 19th century, Gustave Courbet's "L'Origine du monde" (The Origin of the World), has finally been revealed, according to experts... The canvas has never lost its power to shock – even bringing out the prude in Facebook, which censored the profiles using it as late as 2011 in a case that ended up in the French courts.
For decades, art historians have been convinced that the naked torso and genitalia it depicts belonged to Courbet's lover, Irish model Joanna Hiffernan.
▽French rap video calling for 'whites to be hanged' outrages political class - The Local
There has been an outcry among French politicians over a song by a little-known French rapper which calls for whites to be killed in a video depicting a white man being tortured, shot and hanged from a tree.
The song at the heart of the outrage is called Pendez les Blancs in French ('Hang the Whites').
The video by Nick Conrad -- which controversial black comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala , a convicted anti-Semite, linked to on his Facebook page on Saturday -- was viewed thousands of times on YouTube before being taken down on Wednesday.
▽'Spiderman' balcony rescue: Father of dangling child given suspended sentence - BBC News
The father of a child who was dramatically rescued after dangling from a Paris balcony has been given a three-month suspended sentence.
Convicted of neglecting his parental responsibilities, the man has also been ordered to take a course in being a better parent.
