Urgent.News

What's breaking now, across thousands of outlets.

Sunday, 16 August 2026 Reading Room

World

Former US Ambassador to Korea Mark R. Niles, also known as Mark Laini, passed away. He was 96. Laini served as US Ambassador to Korea from 1993 to 1997. During his tenure, he made efforts to resolve the first North Korean nuclear crisis in 1994. The US Embassy in Korea said on the 26th that Laini passed away on the 15th. Laini was appointed as the US Ambassador to Korea in June 1993 and served for four years. During his time as ambassador, Laini worked hard to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, which had been emerging as a problem since 1993. In October 1994, he actively engaged in the negotiation process for the Agreed Framework between the US and North Korea. The Agreed Framework was an agreement between the US and North Korea to freeze North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and energy supply. Laini was born in 1927 and had served as a diplomat for 29 years, including his time as US Ambassador to Korea.

Translated from Korean Read in Korean

hani.co.kr ·

We haven't written up this one. Hankyoreh has the full story — the link below goes straight to it.

Read the original at hani.co.kr →

More in World

France's Constitutional Council on the 30th has decided that a law banning minors from using social networking services (SNS) is unconstitutional. The law in question was introduced by a group of lawmakers in early 2020. The law banned minors under the age of 15 from using SNS without parental consent. The Constitutional Council pointed out that the law restricts the right to freedom of expression and does not clearly define the age verification process, and thus decided that it is unconstitutional. The Constitutional Council's decision on this day has been attracting attention because it could have a significant impact on the global trend of regulating children's use of SNS. Recently, many countries have been actively discussing regulations on children's use of SNS. In the United States, Utah and Arkansas have passed laws regulating children's use of SNS, and other states are also preparing similar regulations. In the European Union, the Children's Online Protection Act was introduced in 2022, and it is currently being reviewed. In Korea, there have been several attempts to regulate children's use of SNS, but they have not been implemented yet. The decision by the French Constitutional Council is expected to have a significant impact on the global trend of regulating children's use of SNS. The French Constitutional Council's decision is being closely watched by many countries, including Korea, as it could affect their own regulations on children's use of SNS. The law that was deemed unconstitutional in France was proposed by lawmakers who wanted to protect children from the negative effects of SNS. However, the Constitutional Council decided that the law was too broad and did not clearly define the age verification process, and thus it was unconstitutional.

·hani.co.kr

Eastern Japan rain kills nine: Report

TOKYO: Heavy rain that battered eastern Japan has left nine people dead, public broadcaster NHK said Sunday, after an “unprecedented” deluge that flooded over a thousand homes and snarled up roads and…

·nst.com.my

More from Sunday 16 August →