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WORLD NEWSThursday 15 October 2015

China-North Korea ties warm with Pyongyang visit                                                                                      EU expects Britain
                                                                                                                                       to come up with
C. BODEEN                       cording to China’s official      diplomatic gambits.              visit has already discour-           reform plans fast 
Associated Press                Xinhua News Agency.              Kim did not respond di-          aged a new provocation.
BEIJING (AP) — The two          Kim, Xinhua said, respond-       rectly, saying only that         Weeks before Saturday’s            RAF CASERT
men raised their clasped        ed that Liu’s presence was       North  Korea  wanted             parade, comments in                Associated Press
hands above their heads         a sign of the “deep affec-       peace and improved re-           North Korean media had             BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe-
like a pair of victorious ath-                                                                                                       an Union leaders say they
letes, as international me-     North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, waves his hands with Chinese official Liu Yunshan during     are increasingly frustrated
dia and tens of thousands                                                                                                            that British Prime Minister
of North Koreans looked         a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the North’s ruling party and trumpet Kim’s third-  David Cameron has not
on. The gesture by North                                                                                                             made concrete propos-
Korean leader Kim Jong          generation leadership in Pyongyang, North Korea.		                (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)             als on reform of the bloc
Un and a top Chinese of-                                                                                                             despite all Britain’s talk
ficial during a high-profile    tion” between the sides lations with SouthKorea  to led some analysts to sus-                        of possibly leaving un-
celebration in Pyong-                                                                                                                less there is fundamental
yang seemed designed to         and a “great encourage- build its economy and pect the North planned to                              change.
scotch appearances that                                                                                                              On the eve of a summit
their countries have been       ment” to the North.              improve quality of life.         mark the party anniversary         of EU leaders where the is-
drifting apart.                 “I believe this visit will play  North Korea has repeated-        with a satellite launch that       sue is expected to be only
Now the big question: Will      a major role in transmit-        ly said it has no intention of   would have been viewed             lightly touched upon,  EU-
warmer relations with Chi-                                                                                                           Commission President
na moderate the North’s         ting the North Korea-China giving up its limited nuclear internationally as an il-                   Jean-Claude Juncker
provocative and unpre-                                                                                                               told the  EU  Parliament
dictable behavior, seen by      friendship and developing weapons capability.                     legal test of long-range-          Wednesday that “I can’t
many as the biggest threat                                                                                                           say that huge progress
to peace and security in        bilateral relations,” Kim was    “I think this is a gradual res-  missile technology. With           has been achieved.”
northeast Asia?                 quoted as saying.                toration of a sense of nor-      no launch occurring, some          Juncker insisted he
Liu Yunshan, the ruling         Liu closed his remarks by        malcy between the two            now speculate that Liu’s           wants Britain to remain
Communist Party’s fifth-                                                                                                             in the  EU  but added that
ranked official, was Kim’s      reiterating China’s hopes countries,” said Jingdong presence in Pyongyang                            “to tango, it takes two. So
most prominent foreign                                                                                                               we have to dance, and
guest at Saturday’s mili-       for a resumption of six-na-      Yuan, a specialist on Asia-      was a deterrent.                   our British friends have to
tary parade and mass rally      tion talks on ending North-      Pacific security at Austra-      Given the extreme insu-            dance.”
marking the 70th anniver-       Korea’s  nuclear weap-           lia’s University of Sydney.      larity of the relationship         Cameron set out in May to
sary of the founding of the                                                                                                          change the way the EU is
Worker’s Party of Korea. Liu    ons programs, something “Bilateral relations have re- — and uncertainty about                        run and wants to cut the
and Kim shook hands and                                                                                                              EU’s political powers over
raised their arms together      Pyongyang has refused ally been strained to some the extent of Chinese influ-                        member states. He plans
on the balcony of the pa-                                                                                                            to hold a national vote
latial People’s Grand Study     to do since they bogged          extent because of North          ence over the North — it’s         before the end of 2017
House.                          down in 2009, stifling one       Korean provocations.”            always difficult to assess         on whether Britain should
The evening before, the         of Beijing’s more successful     It’s conceivable that Liu’s      the true state of relations.       leave theEU  — a possibil-
two had met at a state                                                                                                               ity that has come to be
guesthouse where Liu                                                                                                                 known as a Brexit.
handed Kim a personal let-                                                                                                           Ahead of Thursday’s sum-
ter from Chinese President                                                                                                           mit, Cameron and Junck-
Xi Jinping renewing the tra-                                                                                                         er will have lunch together
ditional friendship between                                                                                                          as part of a grand tour by
the communist neighbors                                                                                                              the British leader to Euro-
and stating China’s desire                                                                                                           pean capitals to feel out
to further develop ties, ac-                                                                                                         what reforms could be put
                                                                                                                                     on the table.
Turkey detains 2 for tweets in connection to blasts                                                                                  The EU institutions and sev-
                                                                                                                                     eral member states want
SUZAN FRASER                    ers’ Party, or PKK, which is     on Wednesday.                    pressed skepticism about           to forge ahead and are
Associated Press                fighting Turkey’s security       He has said that the main        claims of the PKK’s in-            eagerly awaiting for Brit-
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) —           forces.                          focus of the investigation       volvement, given that the          ain comes up with its de-
Turkish police have de-         Authorities were trying to       into the blasts is the Is-       attack targeted Kurdish            mands, so it is clear to ev-
tained two people who           determine whether they           lamic State group. He said       activists.                         eryone where any reform
sent tweets suggesting          had prior knowledge              Wednesday that the PKK           Turkish authorities on             should be, said one dip-
there could be a bomb in        about the attacks or links       were also under suspicion.       Wednesday imposed a                lomat from an  EUnation,
Ankara a day before twin        to the bombers, the of-          “As the investigation            ban on reporting on the            who spoke on condition
suicide bombings killed         ficial said. He spoke on         deepens, and based es-           details of the investiga-          of anonymity because
99 people gathering for a       condition of anonymity           pecially on certain re-          tion. The suicide bomb-            talks were set for Thursday.
peace rally, officials said     in line with government          sults we have obtained           ings struck at the heart           Britain wants to touch on
Wednesday.                      rules that bar officials from    through Twitter accounts         of the capital just weeks          fundamental social and
The two suspects were           speaking to journalists          and IP addresses, we can         before Turkey holds a na-          financial legislation and
detained after Twitter          without authorization.           see that both Daesh (IS)         tional election on Nov. 1,         agreements between
provided information on         Prime Minister Ahmet Da-         and the PKK are groups           following an inconclusive          member states and make
users of the accounts, a        vutoglu raised the death         that are likely to have          election in June and after         sure nations regain more
government official said,       toll in the attacks to 99        played an active role,”          a summer of violence that          autonomous decision-
adding that the two have        from the previous 97, dur-       Davutoglu said.                  has claimed hundreds of            making at the expense
ties to the Kurdistan Work-     ing a television interview       Analysts, however, ex-           lives.q                            of EU institutions.q
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