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CNN —North Korea on Wednesday confirmed publicly for the first time that US Army Private Travis King crossed into its territory. A statement from the country’s government-controlled Korean Central News Agency claimed King had expressed “his willingness to seek refugee” in North Korea or a third country. King, a junior enlisted soldier assigned to US Forces Korea, had faced assault charges in South Korea and was due to return to Fort Bliss, Texas and be removed from the military just one day before he crossed into North Korea, CNN has reported. KCNA added that he had admitted of “illegally” intruding into the territory of North Korea and said that the investigation is ongoing. Defense officials have said publicly that King “willfully and without authorization” crossed into North Korea while taking a civilian tour of the DMZ.

Persons: Travis King, King, “, ” King, Fort, KCNA, Private King, King “, ”, Christine Wormuth, he’d, ” Wormuth, Jaqueda Gates, King’s, Biden Organizations: CNN, Wednesday, US, Korean Central News Agency, U.S . Army, Joint Security, US Forces Korea, Defense, Private, North, Army, Aspen Security, US Army, South Korean, Geneva Convention Locations: North Korea, South Korea, Fort Bliss , Texas, North Koreans, United States, Geneva

North Korean investigators have also concluded that King crossed deliberately and illegally, with the intent to stay in the North or in a third country, state news agency KCNA said. It did not address whether it had heard more details from North Korea. As an active-duty soldier he might appear to qualify as a POW, given that the United States and North Korea technically remain at war. The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Factors including King's decision to cross into North Korea of his own free will, in civilian attire, appear to have disqualified him from POW status, U.S. officials have said.

Persons: Travis King, Pyongyang's, King, KCNA, Myron Gates, Soo, hyang Choi, Josh Smith, Idrees Ali, Grant McCool, Stephen Coates Organizations: U.S . Army, Joint Security Area, Korean People's Army, ABC, Pentagon, United Nations Command, UNC, U.S ., Korean, Force, U.S, South Korean, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, North Korea, U.S, South Korea, ., DPRK, United States, Washington

As an active-duty soldier he might appear to qualify as a POW, given that the United States and North Korea technically remain at war. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on King's POW status, but said the defense department's priority was to bring him home and it was working to achieve that through all available channels. Washington has conveyed that message in private communications to Pyongyang, the U.S. officials said, adding that those communications have not invoked POW status. PROTECTIONS FOR CAPTIVESPrisoners of war are protected by the Third Geneva Convention, to which North Korea and the U.S. are signatories. After serving time in detention in South Korea, King had been due to face military disciplinary action on his return to Fort Bliss, Texas.

Persons: Travis T, Sarah Leslie, Handout, Travis King, King, Rachel VanLandingham, Geoffrey Corn, we'd, Corn, Fort, Christopher Stone, Andrew Ramirez, Steven Gonzales, Robert Goodman, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Josh Smith, Simon Lewis, Don Durfee, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Security Area, REUTERS, United, Reuters, Geneva Convention, U.S, Pentagon, POW, Department, Third Geneva Convention, North, Southwestern Law School, Texas Tech University School of Law, U.S . Army, Cavalry, Korean, Force, NATO, Thomson Locations: Panmunjom, South Korea, REUTERS WASHINGTON, United States, Geneva, North, North Korea, Washington, Pyongyang, U.S, Fort Bliss , Texas, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Syria

CNN —The Biden administration is debating whether to designate Travis King, the US Army soldier who crossed into North Korea last month, as a prisoner of war, defense officials told CNN. But VanLandingham said it’s unclear that North Korea would even acknowledge POW status or afford King the protections it bestows. A former senior Air Force lawyer said it’s unlikely King would receive POW status because there was no active fighting when he entered North Korea. In addition, King wasn’t forced into North Korea or captured by their forces, instead entering the country of his own free will. “He chose to go to North Korea,” the lawyer said, pointing out that King’s entry into North Korea was not related to the conflict in any way.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Travis King, King, King “, ”, I’m, Private King, Fort, Rachel VanLandingham, VanLandingham, “, ” VanLandingham, wasn’t, King wasn’t Organizations: CNN, US Army, Geneva Convention, North, Defense, Private, US Forces Korea, Reuters, Southwestern Law School, Korean, Air Force Locations: North Korea, Geneva, South Korea, Fort Bliss , Texas, United States, Korea

☆ Opinion: The time North Korea entrapped an 85-year-old American tourist
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Opinion Mike Chinoy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

CNN —In October 2013, an 85-year-old American tourist, Korean War veteran Merrill Newman, was taken off his Air Koryo plane as he waited to leave Pyongyang after a week-long tourist trip to North Korea and detained. No one — his family, the State Department, the media — had any idea why, and the North Koreans initially said nothing. North Korea has so far said nothing about the incident, which comes amid a spike in tensions between Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul. American tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at Beijing airport on December 7, 2013, after being released by North Korea. Over the decades, a handful of serving American soldiers have defected and been allowed to live in North Korea.

Persons: Mike Chinoy, Read, CNN —, Merrill Newman, —, Mike Chinoy Mike Chinoy, Newman, Travis King, darted, ” —, “, ” Newman, ”, “ I’ll, …, Mike Chinoy “, ‘, ’, It’s, Merrill Newman “ I’d, They’ve, Karl, Olof Andersson, Merrill, Andersson, Kim Jong, ” Merrill Newman, Lee Organizations: University of Southern, China Institute, Beijing Bureau, Senior Asia, CNN, Koryo, State Department, North, Communist Korean, Palo, Joint Security Area, Kyodo, DPRK, Korean People’s, Socialist DPRK, ”, Korean, North Koreans, Koreans, Twitter, Facebook Locations: University of Southern California’s US, Beijing, North Korea, Pyongyang, Kuwol, Korean, Palo Alto California, North, South Korea, Korea, Washington, Seoul, American, Korean People’s Army, DPRK, USA, North Koreans, Merrill, North Korea's, KCNA, North Korean, Swedish

Vietnam targets LNG-sourced gas generating up to 22.4 gigawatts (GW) of power by 2030, enough to power 20 million households and account for nearly 15% of national power supply. Complicating LNG efforts, much of Vietnam's planned gas power investment is directed to the south of the country despite the under-served north's greater vulnerability to blackouts. Reuters GraphicsThe first plant due to come online, the Nhon Trach 3 facility being built by state-run PetroVietnam Power (PV Power) (POW.HM) near Ho Chi Minh City, is scheduled to begin operation in late 2024. Takafumi Akino of Tokyo Gas, which is building an LNG terminal and a gas plant in northern Quang Ninh province, predicted "hard negotiations". PV Gas said this month it was in talks with U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil and Russia's Novatek on LNG cooperation.

Persons: Thi, Kaushal Ramesh, EVN, Japan's Marubeni, Takafumi, Rystad's Ramesh, Francesco Guarascio, Khanh, Emily Chow, Florence Tan, Phuong Nguyen, Tony Munroe, William Mallard Organizations: European Chamber of Commerce, Reuters, Energy, Tokyo Gas, Industry, Plant, Foreign, Delta Offshore Energy, Gulf International Holdings, Delta Offshore, Gulf Energy Development, Buyers, PV Gas, ExxonMobil, Russia's, Gas, Thomson Locations: Vietnam, Hanoi, HANOI, China, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Ho Chi Minh City, Oslo, U.S, Tokyo, Quang Ninh, South, Southeast Asia, Asia, Khanh Vu

Anthony Di Petta's remains arriving at LaGuardia airport on Friday, July 7. Di Petta’s remains were unable to be found at the time, DPAA says. In August 2021, the nonprofit recovered the remains of multiple missing service members from the site, including those of Di Petta. Di Petta’s remains arrived at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Friday afternoon. Di Petta will be buried in Wrightstown, New Jersey on July 11, according to the DPAA.

Persons: Anthony Di Petta’s, he’s, Di Petta, Anthony Di Petta's, DPAA, Di Petta’s Organizations: CNN, US Department of Defense, US Navy Aviation, Defense POW, Agency, Project, US Navy, Base, Armed Forces Medical, LaGuardia Locations: Nutley , New Jersey, Italy, LaGuardia, Palau Islands, Malakal, Di, Hickam, Hawaii, New York, Wrightstown , New Jersey

☆ UK holds crisis talks as top water supplier seeks cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Engineers from a Thames Water leak hunting team unloads equipment from their van during a night shift in London, UK, on Wednesday, May 2, 2023. The chief executive of Britain's biggest water supplier stepped down with immediate effect on Tuesday. The British government has held emergency talks over the fate of the country's biggest water supplier, Thames Water, and said it is ready for any outcome, including temporary state ownership, as the company buckles under huge debts. "We need to make sure that Thames Water as an entity survives," business and trade minister Kemi Badenoch told Sky News. Ofwat said it had been in ongoing talks with Thames Water about the need for a credible plan to turn the business around.

Persons: Rebecca Pow, Rishi Sunak's, Pow, Kemi Badenoch, Ofwat Organizations: Engineers, Thames, Conservatives, Sky News, Water Locations: London, England, Wales

☆ This former Vietnam War POW spent 10 months in a 'tiger cage'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Instead he scrambled out of a porthole and found himself face-to-face with the North Vietnamese. A day that Wallingford recalled as clearly as if it were yesterday, as he recounted it to CNN at a recent reunion for surviving Vietnam War POWs in California. As a longtime veteran of combat in Vietnam, Smith also had battlefield wisdom to impart to his brothers in arms. But what can’t be disputed is that soon after those bombings took place, early in 1973, North Vietnam did finally agree to a peace deal. “He had the stones to go to Hanoi and bomb them for (12) days, which ended the war,” Wallingford said.

CNN —A mural depicting a fallen Ukrainian soldier executed by Russian forces in 2022 has appeared in the heart of Kyiv on the side of a government building. The sighting was celebrated in a Facebook post by the Ukrainian parliament on Saturday. In the video, he was seen pulling a cigarette and saying: “Slava Ukraini (Glory to Ukraine)” – before fighters off camera fired several shots at him. Glory to Ukraine.”Zelensky posthumously awarded Matsiyevsky Ukraine’s highest honor, the “Hero of Ukraine” medal later that month. There, a common idea arose to create a mural in Kyiv,” the Parliament said.

☆ Russian soldiers are shocked by the 'horrible reality' in Ukraine and often regret going, says YouTuber who spoke to more than 200 after they were captured
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He told Insider that there are common themes among captives: ignorance and regret. Zolkin, a former lawyer, became a YouTube hit last March when he started posting interviews with captured Russian soldiers. He said he always asks the Russian soldiers, on camera, if they want to be interviewed beforehand. "Unfortunately, they are all in the vacuum of Russian propaganda, and nobody tells them what is actually going on," Zolkin told Insider. He said many of the Russian soldiers he interviewed have also since been brought back home.

☆ Zelenskyy vows to find Russian killers after horrific video appears to show them shoot a POW for shouting 'Glory to Ukraine'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A horrific video shows a Ukrainian soldier being shot dead after shouting: "Glory to Ukraine." Zelenskyy drew attention to the video in his nightly address, vowing to find his killers. His comments were in response to a video that has been circulating on various Telegram channels, which appears to show the brutal execution of an unarmed Ukrainian soldier. The phrase "Glory to Ukraine" and the response "Glory to the Heroes" has been used as a rallying cry since the start of Russia's attack on Ukraine last year. "Horrific video of an unarmed Ukrainian POW executed by Russian forces merely for saying 'Glory to Ukraine'.

☆ American POW freed from Russia said his captors were 'idiots' who had prisoners call an Alabama licensing office for help, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Drueke told The Daily Beast that his captors tortured and beat him, but were "idiots." He said they made him reach out to the "silliest levels of the US government," including an Alabama licensing office. "I think one they made Andy call was the head of LLC business licensing for Alabama," Drueke told The Daily Beast. The captors were attempting to spread panic in the US about the chance that Drueke and Huynh could be executed. "Sometimes they were just so smart and I was like 'Oh man they're going to kill me.'

☆ Amid sea of Ukrainian flags, Mariupol defender finally laid to rest
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Vitalii Hnidyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KHARKIV, Ukraine, Feb 22 (Reuters) - For months, Natalia Honcharenko had clung to the hope that her son, a Ukrainian soldier who helped defend the Mariupol steelworks against relentless Russian attack, might still be alive. But DNA tests proved that the remains of a body brought back to Ukraine in September as part of a POW exchange were his. And on a cold late January day, Natalia finally laid him to rest, among a sea of Ukrainian flags set on hundreds of other graves of fallen Kharkiv soldiers. [1/5] A view shows graves of killed Ukrainian defenders, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at a cemetery in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 31, 2023. "What I know is that they were moving across a bridge, and something happened there," his friend added.

☆ We're concerned about Alphabet’s ad-based business model due to AI competition and the DOJ's lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

It's Alphabet (GOOGL) versus Microsoft (MSFT) in artificial intelligence — and after decades of owning search, Google finds itself looking over its shoulder. The back-to-back decline last Wednesday and Thursday in Alphabet stock was the biggest two-session losing streak since March 2020. "The quality of large AI models is highly dependent on quality of data," and Google search has a huge lead given usage of Search, Chrome and Android, Jefferies analysts argued. "It is tough when you have the Justice Department saying you have a monopoly and when you have the monopoly being destroyed at the same time by Microsoft," Jim said. Alphabet's business is largely run off ads and there's a growing possibility that the improved capabilities of Bing could attract at least some users away from Google search.

☆ Ether losses build as crypto investors weigh the future of staking after Kraken exchange's SEC settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The price of ether fell on Friday, extending losses from the previous session as fears about a U.S. regulatory crackdown on crypto staking weighed on investors. The drop began after crypto exchange Kraken closed its staking program as part of a $30 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier in the week, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sounded the alarm on a potential regulatory crackdown on staking and staking services in the U.S. that may be underway. The angst in the crypto market centers on the staking services offered by exchanges like Kraken as well as Coinbase. Staking is available only on networks like Ethereum that operate using the "proof-of-stake" protocol.

☆ Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dies at 95
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Corky Siemaszko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican," the statement said. Benedict was the longest-living pope, having surpassed Pope Leo XIII in September 2020. "We must think about what Pope Benedict said — 'It's the epoch of sin against God the Creator,'" Francis said at a gathering of Polish bishops. Unlike most priests, Benedict logged little time in parishes. In 2005, his first year as pope, he was accused in a lawsuit of having personally covered up a priest's abuse of three boys in Texas.

☆ Following Griner's release, U.S. lawmakers want a "National Hostage" day
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Days after the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner from imprisonment in Russia, Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers will introduce legislation on Tuesday to establish March 9 as an annual day to remember Americans detained abroad. The bill, according to text seen by Reuters, seeks to make March 9 "National Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day," to call increased attention to Americans unjustly held abroad and add urgency to the push to bring them home. "Brittney Griner's release and unjust imprisonment has only underscored the need for Congress to continue working to safeguard the lives of wrongfully detained Americans," said Democratic Senator Chris Coons, a lead sponsor of the bill, in a statement. The measure's sponsors also include Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Representatives Haley Stevens, a Democrat, and French Hill, a Republican. The administration has been unable to secure the release of former Marine Paul Whelan, who was jailed in Russia on 2020 on spying charges.

The gunman, identified as Andre Bing, 31, of Chesapeake, Virginia, said nothing as he began firing on workers gathered late on Tuesday ahead of their overnight shift, according to two employees who were in the break room. Another Walmart employee, Briana Tyler, told ABC's "Good Morning America": "I looked up and my manager just opened the door and he just opened fire." [1/6] FBI agents stand in the parking lot after a mass shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, U.S. November 23, 2022. He told her that during the nightly meeting his manager was acting "strange" and "then started shooting," she told the news station. This was not the first mass shooting at a Walmart, which has thousands of stores across the country.

☆ Robert Clary, ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ star who survived the Holocaust, dead at 96
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters —Paris-born actor and singer Robert Clary, who survived 31 months in Nazi concentration camps but later co-starred in “Hogan’s Heroes,” the US sitcom set in a German World War II prisoner of war (POW) camp, has died at the age of 96. “Hogan’s Heroes” starred Bob Crane as American Colonel Robert Hogan, with Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis and Ivan Dixon playing other POWs. “Hogan’s Heroes” was popular with TV viewers during its run on the CBS network and for decades afterward in syndication even though some critics considered it in bad taste. In 1980, alarm over people trying to deny the Holocaust prompted Clary to end his self-imposed silence about his experiences. He also wrote an autobiography, “From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes.”“We must learn from history,” Clary told the Reno Gazette-Journal in 2002, “which we don’t.”

Christopher Gregory/Getty ImagesDonald McGahn, Trump campaign counsel: I was at the top. Trump's 2016 campaign aides said they paid about 50 people, including part-time actors, to appear as supporters for his 2016 campaign announcement. Corey Lewandowski, Trump campaign managerCorey Lewandowski: I called my wife just as we were getting onto the plane. Stuff that would be from Mars on any other campaign was perfectly normal for the Trump campaign. Mark J. Terrill/AP photo Show less Trump at the Republican National Convention while Cruz speaks on July 20, 2016.

☆ Hurricane Nicole unearthed 6 human skulls from a Florida beach, and it's the latest case of long-buried remains found after worsening weather
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Beachgoers found skulls and other bones in Florida after Hurricane Nicole, according to local news. "They are ancestors of the Seminole people," Tina Osceola, a member of the Seminole tribe in Florida, told WPTV. Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesBones won't stay buried in eroding beachesThis is not the first time that hurricanes have unearthed Indigenous remains. Switzerland's melting glaciers unearthed human remains and the wreckage of a historic plane crash. More recently, melting glaciers in the Swiss Alps revealed two sets of human remains and the wreckage of a 1968 plane crash that had been frozen beneath snow and ice this summer.

☆ In Russian-held Donetsk, freed POWs return to tearful reunions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Alexander ErmochenkoAMVROSIIVKA, Ukraine, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Fighters affiliated with the Russian-installed administration of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region arrived in the town of Amvrosiivka on Sunday after being freed in a prisoner swap with the Ukrainian military. "I still can't believe I'm home," returning prisoner of war (POW) Maxim Chekanov told Reuters. The fighters were freed during a prisoner exchange on Nov. 3, with the two sides in the eight-month-old conflict releasing 107 captives each. Prisoner exchanges have been a regular occurrence during the conflict, with both military personnel and high-ranking politicians released in the swaps. One woman, Lyudmila, said her returning son, Yevgeny, had lost a lot of weight since she last saw him.

On Wednesday night, NBC News counted at least nine people watching the ballot drop box in Mesa, a small part of what has become a growing effort by some conservatives to monitor ballot drop boxes in hope of catching election fraud. Some people have stood watch at the drop box while wearing military-style fatigues and masks over their faces, prompting complaints to the Arizona secretary of state. No such drop box fraud has ever been found in significant numbers. On that platform, the former president’s account has shared posts by users advocating for drop box surveillance, including the Mesa drop box. “As for tailgate parties in every drop box: why not?” Keshel said, reiterating that drop box watchers should not participate in any illegal behavior.

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