U.K. negotiator denies EU blackmail
LONDON — Britain’s chief negotiator in the country’s divorce from the European Union on Thursday rejected suggestions that the U.K. has threatened to end security cooperation unless it gets a good trade deal with the bloc’s member countries.
The British government, meanwhile, announced plans for the huge task of converting thousands of EU laws and regulations into domestic statutes.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said Prime Minister Theresa May’s letter Wednesday triggering talks on Britain’s departure made clear Britain wants to continue to work with the EU on a range of issues, including security.
The government published plans for a Great Repeal Bill that would transform more than 12,000 EU laws in force in Britain into U.K. statute so that “the same rules will apply after exit day” as before. The bill is designed to prevent Britain plunging into a legislative black hole once it extricates itself from the EU.
Kim Jong Nam’s body
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Nine Malaysians held in North Korea returned to Malaysia’s capital early Friday after the government released the body of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korea’s leader, to the North. The exchange ended a bitter diplomatic battle between the two countries more than a month after Kim’s killing at Kuala Lumpur’s airport.
There were no details on what led to the breakthrough, but North Korea appeared to win some important concessions: Custody of the body and the release of at least two suspects who had been holed up in its embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
First ban on metal mining
SAN SALVADOR — Lawmakers in El Salvador voted Wednesday to prohibit all mining for gold and other metals, making the country the first in the world to impose a nationwide ban on metal mining, environmental activists said.
Declaring that El Salvador’s fragile environment could not sustain metal mining operations, legislators across the political spectrum approved the ban, which had broad support, particularly from the influential Roman Catholic Church. Supporters said the law was needed to protect the country’s dwindling supply of clean water.
Park jailed over allegations
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s disgraced former President Park Geunhye was jailed Friday over corruption allegations that already ended her tumultuous four-year rule and prompted an election to find her successor.
Prosecutors accuse Ms. Park of colluding with a confidante to extort big businesses, take a bribe from one of the companies and commit other wrongdoing. The allegations led millions of South Koreans to protest for months before she was impeached in December and the Constitutional Court ruled in March to formally remove her from office.