7 'hot' world events in the past 24 hours

(Baonghean.vn) - Mr. Kim Jong-un visited his father, declared to fight "tirelessly"; Mayor of Libya's largest port city was assassinated; Saudi Arabia's 'anti-corruption' crown prince bought the world's most expensive 'mansion';... are the outstanding international news of the past 24 hours.

1. Mr. Kim Jong-un visits his father, declares to fight "tirelessly"

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pays tribute to his late father Kim Jong-il at the Kumsusan Palace. Photo: Yonhap.

YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a mausoleum in Pyongyang, where the bodies of leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are kept, to pay his respects to his father Kim Jong-il on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of his death, news reports said on December 18.

KCNA quoted Mr. Kim Jong-un as saying at a solemn ceremony held at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, affirming that he would "fight tirelessly" to help North Korea "become politically independent, economically self-sufficient and self-reliant in national defense."

On the same day, the Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the Workers' Party of Korea, also published a photo of Kim Jong-un visiting the mausoleum and another showing a flower basket placed before the statues of leaders Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung.

No delegation appears in the photo. Mr. Kim visits the mausoleum every year to mark the anniversary of his father's death, usually accompanied by a group of aides./.

2. President Putin thanks the CIA for helping Russia prevent IS terrorism

Russian President Putin (right) and US President Trump. Photo: EPA.

According to US and Russian sources, information provided by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) helped Russian security agencies neutralize a terrorist attack on the Kazan Cathedral in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. According to Russia, the attack was planned to take place on December 16.

The White House statement said the terrorists were captured before they could act and “had the potential to kill large numbers of people.”

Russia's FSB security service said in a statement on December 15 that it had arrested seven members of a group of supporters of the Islamic State extremist group and seized a large amount of explosives, weapons and extremist literature. The group planned to carry out a suicide attack on a religious facility and kill Russian citizens on December 16, according to the FSB's Russian-language statement.

On February 17, the Kremlin announced that the group was preparing to detonate explosives at the church and other public places in Saint Petersburg.

The Kremlin said President Putin told President Trump that Russian special services would provide their American counterparts with information on terrorist threats. Mr. Putin also asked Mr. Trump to thank the CIA director and the agents involved in the case.

3. Mayor of Libya's largest port city assassinated

Illustration: NST

NewspaperLibya HeraldOn the afternoon of December 17, after returning from Istanbul (Türkiye) with a working delegation, on his way home from the airport, Mr. Mohamed Eshtewi was kidnapped along with many other local officials.

His younger brother Ahmed and their driver were also in the car. The car was stopped at a traffic light on the way out of the airport by the attackers. He was kidnapped while his younger brother was shot in the head.

Mohamed Eshtewi's body was later dumped outside the Safwa Hotel with three bullets in his back. However, according to city councilor Mustafa Krwat, who is in charge of security, the mayor's cause of death was a blow to the head.

Other sources in Libya said seven other bullet wounds were also found on Mohamed Eshtewi's body.

4. Saudi Arabia's 'anti-corruption' crown prince buys the world's most expensive 'mansion'

Chateau Louis XIV. Photo: New York Times

According to an investigation by the New York Times (USA), the 32-year-old prince who had harshly punished and placed under house arrest many royal cousins ​​and members of the "big" business community in a large-scale anti-corruption campaign in Saudi Arabia, turned out to be the mysterious buyer of the world's most expensive villa in France since 2015.

Accordingly, Mr. Mohammed bin Salman bought a newly built castle worth 300 million USD near the Palace of Versailles in the Louveciennes region, France.

The villa, named Chateau Louis XIV, was built three years ago on the 50,000-square-foot (4,645-square-meter) site of a 19th-century castle and is equipped with smart home technology.

5. Japan: North Korea's provocative actions cannot be tolerated

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Source: AFP/TTXVN

According to Kyodo, on December 18, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera emphasized the significance of Japan-US cooperation in curbing North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, saying Pyongyang's provocative actions are "intolerable."

During talks with Admiral John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations of the US Navy, at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tokyo, Minister Onodera stated: "We cannot tolerate North Korea's continued provocations. It is necessary for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the US Navy to cooperate with each other."

6. South Korea accuses Chinese aircraft of violating airspace

Illustration photo: Yonhap

Yonhap news agency quoted a source from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying that the Chinese aircraft was detected entering the KADIZ from Ieo Island in the southwest at around 10:10 a.m. on December 18 and flew out of the area at 1:47 p.m. the same day.

"Our military confirmed through the Air Force's Control and Reporting Center that they were Chinese military aircraft," the JCS added. South Korean F-15K and F-16K fighters conducted "normal tactical measures" until the Chinese aircraft left.

The KADIZ near Ieo Island overlaps air defense zones unilaterally established by China and Japan.

7. Mr. Putin's opponent suddenly wants to withdraw from the presidential election

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Ksenia Sobchak. Photo: Getty

Prominent Russian TV journalist Ksenia Sobchak said she is ready to withdraw from the presidential race in favor of a “political coalition,” TASS news agency reported on December 17.

“I really think it would be unfair for Alexei Navalny to be excluded from the race, although I do not share his views and I do not like everything he does. However, I believe that on international issues we have some common goals, both Navalny and I, Grigory Yavlinsky and other politicians,” Sobchak was quoted as saying by TASS.

“I am ready to join forces with them. I have made some important statements and I will continue to do them until I withdraw,” Ms. Sobchak said, adding that she was more suited to business.

Ms. Sobchak's statement was made just as Russia officially "green-lighted" the 2018 presidential campaign. The Russian presidential election is scheduled for March 18, 2018. President Putin also announced his decision to run for a fourth term earlier this month.

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