MANILA, Philippines — President Donald Trump is winding down his lengthy Asia trip with an international summit and a series of meetings with Pacific Rim allies, including his host in the Philippines who is overseeing a bloody drug war.

Trump jointly met Monday with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, with whom he had a contentious phone call last winter, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who hosted the president in Tokyo earlier in the trip. Trump raved about his accomplishments on his five-nation journey, including on trade and North Korea, but said he would wait until his return to Washington on Wednesday to elaborate with a “major statement.”

“We’ve made some very big steps with regard to trade — far bigger than anything you know,” Trump told reporters at the beginning of the meeting in Manila, touting business deals forged between U.S. and foreign companies.

“We’ve made a lot of big progress on trade. We have deficits with almost everybody. Those deficits are going to be cut very quickly and very substantially,” Trump said.

“Except us,” Turnbull chimed in, to laughs.

“You’re the only one,” Trump responded. Trump also the trip had been “very fruitful” for the United States and pointed to the warm welcomes he had received in capitals like Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing.

“It was red carpet like nobody, I think, has probably ever received,” Trump said. “And that really is a sigh of respect, perhaps for me a little, but really for our county. And I’m really proud of that.”

The opening ceremonies of the Association for Southeast Asian Nations conference began with pageantry, including a group photo of the leaders and the summit’s traditional handshake. That cross-body handshake, during which each leader shakes the opposite hands of those next to him or her, briefly baffled Trump, who then laughed as he figured out where to place his arms.

One of the leaders on his flank: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has overseen a bloody drug war that has featured extrajudicial killings. The two men held longer, formal talks on Monday and White House aides signaled that Trump was not expected to publicly bring up human rights in their discussions.

During brief remarks to reporters, Trump said he and Duterte have “had a great relationship” but avoided questions on whether he’d raise human rights issues. The White House said the two leaders discussed the Islamic State, illegal drugs and trade during the 40 minute meeting. Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said human rights came up “briefly” in the context of the Philippines’ fight against illegal drugs.

Trump will also meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, which plays a key role in the U.S. vision of an Indo-Pacific region that attempts to de-emphasize China’s influence. And he is slated to have dinner with Turnbull.

But swirling questions about Russia followed Trump halfway across the globe.

He tried to have it both ways on the issue of Russian interference in last year’s presidential race, saying he believes both the U.S. intelligence agencies when they say Russia meddled and Putin’s sincerity in claiming that his country did not.

“I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election,” Trump said Sunday in Hanoi, Vietnam.

“As to whether I believe it, I’m with our agencies,” Trump said. “As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”

But just a day earlier, he had lashed out at the former heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies, dismissing them as “political hacks” and claiming there were plenty of reasons to be suspicious of their findings that Russia meddled to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Former CIA director John Brennan, appearing Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said Trump was deriding them in an attempt to “delegitimize” the intelligence community’s assessment.

“I think Mr. Putin is very clever in terms of playing to Mr. Trump’s interest in being flattered. And also I think Mr. Trump is, for whatever reason, either intimidated by Mr. Putin, afraid of what he could do or what might come out as a result of these investigations,” Brennan said.

Brennan said Trump’s ambiguity on Russia’s involvement was “very, very worrisome from a national security standpoint.”

“I think he’s giving Putin a pass and I think it demonstrates to Putin that Donald Trump can be played by foreign leaders who are going to appeal to his ego and play upon his insecurities,” Brennan said.

Questions about whether Trump believes the assessment about Russian election-meddling have trailed him since January, when he said for the first time, shortly before taking office, that he accepted that Russia was behind the election-year hacking of Democrats that roiled the White House race.

A special counsel’s examination of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has led to indictments against Trump’s former campaign chairman and another top aide for crimes unrelated to the campaign, and a guilty plea from a Trump foreign policy adviser for lying to the FBI.

Multiple congressional committees are also investigating.

Trump told reporters traveling with him to Hanoi on Saturday that Putin had again vehemently denied the allegations. The two spoke during an economic conference in Danang, Vietnam. Trump danced around questions about whether he believed Putin but stressed Putin’s denials.

“Every time he sees me, he says: ‘I didn’t do that.’ And I believe — I really believe — that when he tells me that, he means it,” Trump said, arguing that it makes no sense for him to belabor the issue when Russia could help the U.S. on North Korea, Syria and other issues.

By Jonathan Lemire and Jill Colvin

MANILA, Philippines — Winding down his visit to Asia, President Donald Trump repeatedly praised Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, called him by his first name, shared a joke with him about the media and even complimented Manila’s weather. What he did not do Monday was what many of his predecessors made a point of doing while abroad: publicly highlight human rights abuses.

Duterte has overseen a bloody drug war that has featured extrajudicial killings. But during brief remarks to reporters, Trump said he and Duterte have “had a great relationship,” and he avoided questions about whether he’d raise human rights concerns with the Filipino leader during a private meeting on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast Asian leaders.

The White House later said the two leaders discussed the Islamic State group, illegal drugs and trade during the 40-minute meeting. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said human rights came up “briefly” in the context of the Philippines’ fight against illegal drugs, but she did not say if Trump was critical of Duterte’s program.

That appeared to conflict with the Filipino version of the meeting. Harry Roque, a spokesman for Duterte, said: “There was no mention of human rights. There was no mention of extralegal killings. There was only a rather lengthy discussion of the Philippine war on drugs with President Duterte doing most of the explaining.”

Despite all that, they later issued a joint statement saying that “the two sides underscored that human rights and the dignity of human life are essential, and agreed to continue mainstreaming the human rights agenda in their national programs.”

Duterte’s war on drugs has alarmed human rights advocates around the world who say it has allowed police officers and vigilantes to ignore due process and to take justice into their own hands. Government officials estimate that well over 3,000 people, mostly drug users and dealers, have died in the ongoing crackdown. Human rights groups believe the victim total is far higher, perhaps closer to 9,000.

In Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference, Trump looked to strengthen ties with Pacific Rim allies, aiming to strike one-on-one trade deals rather than multinational trade agreements, and increase pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.

He met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and highlighted their two nations’ “deeper and more comprehensive” ties, looking to strengthen a relationship that is vital to the U.S. vision of an Indo-Pacific region that attempts to de-emphasize China’s influence.

He jointly met with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, with whom he had a contentious phone call last winter, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who hosted the president in Tokyo earlier in the trip. Trump raved about his accomplishments on his five-nation journey, particularly on trade and on North Korea, which the White House has suggested may be designated a state sponsor of terror.

Trump said he would wait until his return to Washington on Wednesday to elaborate with a “major statement” on those two topics but hinted at progress while in Manila.

“We’ve made some very big steps with regard to trade — far bigger than anything you know,” Trump told reporters, pointing to business deals forged between U.S. and foreign companies.

Trump also said the trip had been “very fruitful” for the United States and pointed to the warm welcomes he had received in capitals like Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing.

“It was red carpet like nobody, I think, has probably ever received,” Trump said. “And that really is a sign of respect, perhaps for me a little, but really for our country. And I’m really proud of that.”

By Jonathan Lemire and Jill Colvin

Vanity Fair has announced Indian American writer Radhika Jones as its new editor-in-chief.

Jones, an Indian American writer, will be replacing Graydon Carter at the helm, who was editor-in-chief at Vanity Fair since 1992. Her stellar résumé boasts a doctorate from Columbia University, as well as former editing titles at the New York Times, The Paris Review and TIME Magazine.

Long-time Vanity Fair readers were initially puzzled by Jones’ appointment, worried that her bookish background were an odd fit for a magazine centered on entertainment, but Jones said her academic interests and fascination with celebrity and fashion are not mutually exclusive.

I’m honored and excited to succeed Graydon Carter as editor in chief of @VanityFair.

— Radhika Jones (@radhikajones) November 13, 2017

The 44-year-old said her interest in the glitz and glam of Hollywood and fashion intensified after she read Tina Brown’s “Vanity Fair Diaries,” which analyzes high and low culture as defined by the glossy pages of one of entertainment’s pre-eminent magazines.

Jones will begin her tenure on Dec. 11.

YANGON, Myanmar  — Pope Francis opened a diplomatically fraught trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh on Monday by immediately diving into the crisis over Myanmar’s crackdown on Rohingya Muslims: He met with the country’s military chief, even before beginning the official program of his trip.

The Vatican didn’t provide details of the contents of Francis’ 15-minute “courtesy visit” with Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and three officials from the bureau of special operations. It took place in the residence of the archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Bo, who has resisted international condemnation of the military’s operations against Rohingya as “ethnic cleansing.”

The general is in charge of security in Rakhine state, where the military’s “clearance operations” against the Muslim minority have sent more than 620,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh. Refugees there have told of entire villages being burned and women and girls being raped.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said only that “They spoke of the great responsibility of the authorities of the country in this moment of transition.”

Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s office said in a statement on Facebook that he is willing to have “interfaith peace, unity and justice.” The general added that there was no religious or ethnic persecution or discrimination in Myanmar, and that the government allowed different faith groups to have freedom of worship.

Rohingya Muslims have faced state-supported discrimination in predominantly Buddhist country for decades. Though members of the ethnic minority first arrived generations ago, Rohingya were stripped of their citizenship in 1982, denying them almost all rights and rendering them stateless. They cannot travel freely, practice their religion, or work as teachers or doctors, and they have little access to medical care, food or education.

Originally, the meeting was planned for Wednesday, after Francis was to have met with the country’s civilian leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, in the capital. The Vatican didn’t say why it was moved up.

Rohingya in recent months have been subject to what the United Nations says is a campaign of “textbook ethnic cleansing” by the military in Rakhine. But Myanmar’s Catholic Church has publicly urged Francis to avoid using the term “Rohingya,” which is shunned by many locally because the ethnic group is not a recognized minority in the country.

Francis has already prayed for “our Rohingya brothers and sisters,” and much of the debate in the run-up to the trip focused on whether he would do so again in expressing solidarity with the Rohingya’s plight. Any decision to avoid the term could be viewed as a capitulation to Myanmar’s military and a stain on his legacy of standing up for the most oppressed and marginalized of society, no matter how impolitic.

Burke didn’t say if Francis used the term in his meeting with the general, which ended with an exchange of gifts: Francis gave him a medallion of the trip, while the general gave the pope a harp in the shape of a boat, and an ornate rice bowl.

The trip was planned before the latest spasm of violence erupted in August, when a group of Rohingya militants attacked security positions in Rakhine. Myanmar security forces responded with a scorched-earth campaign that resulted in Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, where they are living in squalid refugee camps.

In the Kutupalong refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, Senu Ara, 35, welcomed Francis’ arrival for what he might be able to do for the refugees.

“He might help us get the peace that we are desperately searching for,” she said. “Even if we stay here he will make our situation better. If he decides to send us back, he will do so in a peaceful way.”

But in Myanmar, the sentiment was different. The government and most of the Buddhist majority consider the Rohingya Bengali migrants from Bangladesh living illegally in the country, though Rohingya have been here for generations.

“Being a religious leader — Catholic leader — means that he is well-regarded, but of course there is this worry if he says something, people might say, ‘OK, he just came to meddle,’” said Burmese analyst Khin Zaw Win, a former political prisoner. “So, I think a lot of diplomacy is needed, in addition to the public relations.”

Seaman Kyaw Thu Maung said the issue is difficult because the term “Rohingya” carries so much political weight for all of Myanmar’s people.

“But my feeling is that if the pope is going to talk about the Rakhine issue, the people aren’t going to like the pope anymore,” he said.

Upon his arrival in Yangon, the pope was greeted by local Catholic officials and his motorcade passed by thousands of Myanmar’s Catholics, who lined the roads, wearing traditional attire and playing music.

Children greeted him as he drove in a simple blue sedan, chanting “Viva il papa!” (Long live the pope) and waving small plastic Myanmar and Holy See flags. Posters wishing Francis “a heartiest of welcome” lined the route into town.

En route from Rome, Francis greeted journalists on the plane and apologized for the expected heat, which was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) upon his arrival and is expected to rise during his stay.

On Tuesday, Francis begins the main protocol portion of his weeklong trip, meeting with Suu Kyi and other officials. He is to deliver a speech to her and other Myanmar authorities and diplomats in the capital, Naypyitaw, in what will likely be the most closely watched speech of the trip.

By Nicole Winfield

TOKYO — Japan’s much admired Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate on April 30, 2019, at age 85 in the first such departure from the Chrysanthemum Throne in about 200 years, the government said Friday.

Akihito’s elder son Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne a day later, beginning a new as yet unnamed era.

The decision was made Friday at a meeting of the Imperial House Council, which was chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and included parliamentary leaders, supreme court judges and imperial family members.

Akihito expressed his apparent wish to abdicate in August 2016, citing his age and health.

Abe will provide the summary of the meeting at the next Cabinet session early next week ahead of the formal approval expected on Dec. 8, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

“I feel deeply moved that the decision was made smoothly by the Imperial House Council, marking a major step toward an imperial succession,” Abe said.

Suga said the timing was chosen so that Akihito can abdicate after reaching his 30th anniversary on the throne, a milestone. Late April is also more appropriate for many Japanese to embrace the change of an era after settling down from a busy period of travel and job transfers around April 1, the beginning of a new fiscal year.

The events also mean longer Golden Week holidays — up to 10 straight days for those who can take May 2 off.

Legislation allowing Akihito to abdicate within three years was enacted earlier this year.

There will be more preparations to come, including deciding a new era name and a new home for the emperor and the empress, Suga said.

“We would like everyone to celebrate an abdication of the emperor and succession of the crown prince,” he said.

Akihito’s desire to leave the throne revived a debate about the country’s 2,000-year-old monarchy, one of the world’s oldest, as well as discussion about improving the status of female members of the shrinking royal population. The current male-only succession rules prohibit women from succeeding to the Chrysanthemum Throne and female members lose their royal status when they marry a commoner.

Akihito was 56 years old when he ascended the throne in January 1989 after the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito, beginning the Heisei Era. Naruhito will be 59 when he becomes emperor.

Naruhito has no son, and only two other men — his younger brother Akishino and his son — are left as eligible successors.

On Friday, Naruhito’s only child, Princess Aiko, turned 16 — the age women are allowed to marry under Japan’s constitution. One of Akishino’s two adult daughters is marrying a commoner next year, when the royal family would lose all three female members of the younger generation unless the law is revised. Conservative lawmakers oppose allowing female royals to succeed the throne or head the household.

The emperor and his wife, Empress Michiko, who was born a commoner, are an elegant, stately pair often seen making visits to disaster victims and carrying out other official duties.

The legislation for Akihito’s case was needed because the 1947 Imperial House Law does not provide for abdication. The last emperor to abdicate was Kokaku in 1817.

By Mari Yamaguchi

Ed Lee, who served as the first Asian American mayor in the history of San Francisco, died early Tuesday. He was 65.

Former mayor Willie Brown reported to the San Francisco Examiner that Lee was shopping at his local Safeway when he suffered a heart attack. He died just after 1 a.m. at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Lee, a Democrat who took office in 2011, notably fought for affordable housing, and was a vocal opponent of Trump’s immigration policies, declaring San Francisco an immigrant-friendly city. Gov. Jerry Brown called him “a true champion for working people.”

Several politicians, including Sen. Kamala Harris and former Mayor Gavin Newsom, among others, have expressed their condolences.

I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. He was a fierce advocate for civil rights and worked tirelessly for workers’ rights and his leadership will be missed. Keeping the mayor’s family in my prayers during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/SpU8EttETK

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 12, 2017

Absolutely heartbroken by Mayor Lee’s passing. SF has lost a selfless leader and dedicated public servant whose intellect, integrity, boundless optimism & contagious love elevated our City. Jen and I mourn the loss of a dear friend. Our prayers are with Anita, Brianna and Tania. pic.twitter.com/sNagX55s7F

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) December 12, 2017

Holding onto the happy memories, Mr. Mayor. Sending all my love to his beloved Anita and daughters. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/04hFTL4MoV

— Katy Tang (@SupervisorTang) December 12, 2017

Earlier today we lost one of America’s most passionate champions for climate action, and a great urban leader, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. https://t.co/scl9lXvmkX

— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) December 12, 2017

We mourn the loss of Mayor Ed Lee. He cared deeply for the people of San Francisco and championed civil rights. May his soul rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/3vVn42whdG

— SF Public Works (@sfpublicworks) December 12, 2017

The internet turned on YouTube star Logan Paul after the vlogger and actor posted a graphic video depicting the body of a suicide victim.

In the now-deleted video, Paul and his friends traveled to Aokigahara, a dense forest located at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan that is also known as “The Suicide Forest” because of the number of people who choose the forest as a site to take their own lives.

Paul and his friends intended to make a vlog about their experience camping in the forest overnight, but the video took an ugly turn when they encountered a dead body in the woods hanging from a tree. Paul turned the camera on the victim’s body, blurring out the man’s face to protect his identity.

Viewers were outraged by Paul’s actions, calling his decision to film the victim’s body insensitive and potentially triggering to those in his 15 million follower base who may be fighting depressive and suicidal thoughts.

Many on social media also expressed their outrage at Paul and his friends’ lack of respect for Japanese culture and the dead, especially considering that Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world, with 22,000 people committing suicide in 2016. The Japanese government goes to great lengths to prevent suicides in Aokigahara, posting signs throughout the woodland urging people to think of their loved ones.

A white gaijin piece of trash filmed himself disrespecting a body in Aokigahara.

I’ll be honest, I don’t mind if people film or do pictures of the bodies there. Just don’t make fun of them. If you are going to film a dead body, do it to show awareness more than getting views.

— まこりん☆Alpaca Day 02/02 (@kurietachan) January 2, 2018

Among those who expressed their ire was fellow YouTube personality and actress Anna Akana, whose own experience with suicide and loss made her particularly disgusted by Paul’s actions.

Dear @LoganPaul,

When my brother found my sister’s body, he screamed with horror & confusion & grief & tried to save her. That body was a person someone loved.

You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness.

— Anna Akana (@AnnaAkana) January 2, 2018

Paul has since deleted the video and posted both a text and video apology on Twitter.

Dear Internet, pic.twitter.com/42OCDBhiWg

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 2, 2018

 

Aziz Ansari has been accused of sexual misconduct by an anonymous female photographer, causing a schism within his fan base and the general online community.

On Jan. 13, the website Babe.net published an exclusive story in which a young 23-year-old woman, under the alias “Grace,” tells a reporter about her encounter with Ansari. According to the article, Grace met Ansari at a party in Los Angeles, where they exchanged numbers. Eventually, a date was set up in New York.

On the night of the date, Grace met Ansari at his apartment, where the two drank wine. Then, after dinner, they returned to Ansari’s apartment, where the comedian allegedly pressured her into various sexual acts.

23-year-old Grace* went on a date with Aziz Ansari in September. It turned out to be the worst night of her life. She told babe Ansari pulled her hand towards his penis multiple times and “kept doing it after I moved it away.” She said she remembers him asking again and again, “Where do you want me to fuck you?” Throughout the course of the night, she says she used verbal and non-verbal cues to indicate how unhappy she was. This is a conversation between them the following day where Grace tells Ansari how uncomfortable he made her feel, saying “you ignored clear non-verbal cues” and “kept going with advances.” Read the full story on babe.net.

A post shared by Babe (@babedotnet) on Jan 13, 2018 at 3:49pm PST

Ansari’s Netflix series “Master of None” won a Golden Globe earlier this month. Grace said seeing him win the award while wearing a Time’s Up pin on his lapel was partially what inspired her to come forward with her story.

While many were quick to condemn Ansari for his behavior, others, like The Atlantic’s Caitlin Flanagan, found fault with the account. “Apparently there is a whole country full of young women who don’t know how to call a cab, and who have spent a lot of time picking out pretty outfits for dates they hoped would be nights to remember,” Flanagan wrote. “They’re angry and temporarily powerful, and last night they destroyed a man who didn’t deserve it.”

Opinion editor Bari Weiss at The New York Times echoed that sentiment, calling the Babe piece “arguably the worst thing” to happen to the rising women’s empowerment movement. “It transforms what ought to be a movement for women’s empowerment into an emblem for female helplessness,” Weiss said.

Feminist author Jessica Valenti made her opinion known on Twitter, as did others:

A lot of men will read that post about Aziz Ansari and see an everyday, reasonable sexual interaction. But part of what women are saying right now is that what the culture considers “normal” sexual encounters are not working for us, and oftentimes harmful.

— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) January 14, 2018

I would love to live in a world where women feel safe saying NO, loudly & clearly every time they feel uncomfortable but that’s something that is often impossible for women. After all, the word no hasn’t been taught to us. We haven’t been given the freedom to say no all the time.

— Arnesa (@Rrrrnessa) January 15, 2018

Aziz Ansari has since released a statement responding to Grace’s allegations. In his statement, Ansari does not deny that he went on a date with such a woman in the fall last year and that they engaged in sexual activity, but he maintains that the activity was “by all indications completely consensual.”

“The next day, I got a text from her saying that although ‘it may have seemed okay,’ upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable,” he continued. “It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said.”

GOYANG, South Korea — The leaders of North and South Korea vowed Friday to seek a nuclear-free peninsula and work toward a formal end to the Korean War this year, though their historic summit concluded with few specifics on how they will reach those ambitious goals.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in set aside a year that saw them seemingly on the verge of war. They grasped hands and strode together across the cracked concrete marking the Koreas’ border.

The sight, inconceivable just months ago, may not erase their failure to provide any new measures on a nuclear standoff that has captivated and terrified millions, but it allowed the leaders to step forward toward the possibility of a cooperative future even as they acknowledged a fraught past and the widespread skepticism that, after decades of failed diplomacy, things will be any different this time.

On the nuclear issue, the leaders merely repeated a previous vow to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons, kicking one of the world’s most pressing issues down the road to a much-anticipated summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in coming weeks.

Still, the summit produced the spectacle of two men from nations with a deep and bitter history of acrimony grinning from ear to ear after Kim walked over the border to greet Moon, becoming the first leader of his nation to set foot on southern soil since the Korean War. Both leaders then briefly stepped together into the North and back to the South.

The summit marks a surreal, whiplash swing in relations for the countries, from nuclear threats and missile tests to intimations of peace and cooperation. Perhaps the change is best illustrated by geography: Kim and Moon’s historic handshake and a later 30-minute conversation at a footbridge on the border occurred within walking distance of the spot where a North Korean soldier fled south in a hail of gunfire last year, and where North Korean soldiers killed two U.S. soldiers with axes in 1976.

Standing next to Moon after the talks ended, Kim faced a wall of cameras beaming his image live to the world and declared that the Koreas are “linked by blood as a family and compatriots who cannot live separately.” The leaders also vowed to achieve “a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through complete denuclearization,” something they’ve said before.

The latest declaration between the Koreas, Kim said, should not repeat the “unfortunate history of past inter-Korean agreements that only reached the starting line” before becoming derailed.

What happened Friday should be seen in the context of the last year — when the United States, its ally South Korea and North Korea threatened and raged as the North unleashed a torrent of weapons tests — but also in light of the long, destructive history of the rival Koreas, who fought one of the 20th century’s bloodiest conflicts and even today occupy a divided peninsula that’s still technically in a state of war.

Trump tweeted Friday, “KOREAN WAR TO END!” and said the U.S. “should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!” Both Koreas agreed to jointly push for talks this year with the U.S. and also potentially China to officially end the Korean War, which stopped with an armistice that never ended the war.

Many will be judging the summit based on the weak nuclear language. North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests last year likely put it on the threshold of becoming a legitimate nuclear power. The North, which has spent decades doggedly building its bombs despite crippling sanctions and near-constant international opprobrium, claims it has already risen to that level.

South Korean conservative politicians criticized the joint statement as letting North Korea off the hook by failing to secure a clear commitment on nuclear disarmament. Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hong Joon-pyo denounced the summit as a “show camouflaged as peace.”

But the Koreas made inroads on a raft of other points of friction between them. Moon agreed to visit Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, sometime in the autumn, and both leaders said they’d meet on a regular basis and exchange calls via a recently established hotline.

They agreed to settle their disagreement over their western maritime border by designating it as a peace area and securing fishing activities for both countries. They said they’d open a permanent communication office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and resume temporary reunions of relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

“I feel like I’m firing a flare at the starting line in the moment of (the two Koreas) writing a new history in North-South relations, peace and prosperity,” Kim told Moon as they sat at a table, which had been built so that exactly 2018 millimeters separated them, to begin their closed-door talks. Moon responded that there were high expectations that they produce an agreement that will be a “big gift to the entire Korean nation and every peace-loving person in the world.”

Kim acknowledged the widespread skepticism over their summit. “We have reached big agreements before but were unable to fulfill them. … There are skeptical views on whether the meeting today will yield meaningful results,” Kim said. “If we maintain a firm will and proceed forward hand in hand, it will be impossible at least for things to get worse than they are now.”

Kim, during their talks, joked that he would make sure not to interrupt Moon’s sleep anymore, a reference to the North’s drumbeat of early-morning missile tests last year, according to Moon’s spokesman, Yoon Young-chan. Kim also referred to South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island that North Korea attacked with artillery in 2010, killing four, saying its residents who have been living in fear of North Korean artillery have high hopes the summit will help heal past scars. Kim said he’d visit Seoul’s presidential Blue House if invited.

The historic greeting of the two leaders, which may be the images most remembered from the summit, was planned to the last detail, though the multiple border crossings may have been impromptu. As thousands of journalists, who were kept in a huge conference center well away from the summit, except for a small group of tightly controlled pool reporters at the border, waited and watched, Moon stood near the Koreas’ dividing line, moving forward the moment he glimpsed Kim, dressed in dark, Mao-style suit, appearing in front of a building on the northern side. They smiled broadly and shook hands with the border line between them. Moon then invited Kim to cross into the South, and, after Kim did so, Moon said, “You have crossed into the South, but when do I get to go across?” Kim replied, “Why don’t we go across now?” and then grasped Moon’s hand and led him into the North and then back into the South.

Moon then led Kim along a blindingly red carpet into South Korean territory, where two fifth-grade students from the Daesongdong Elementary School, the only South Korean school within the DMZ, greeted the leaders and gave Kim flowers. An honor guard stood at attention for inspection, a military band playing traditional Korean folk songs beloved by both Koreas and the South Korean equivalent of “Hail to the Chief.”

They then took a photo inside the Peace House, where the summit took place, in front of a painting of South Korea’s Bukhan Mountain, which towers over the South Korean Blue House and where dozens of North Korean commandos trying to assassinate the then-dictator in Seoul were killed in 1968. Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, was by Kim’s side throughout the ceremony, handing him a pen to sign a guestbook, taking the schoolchildren’s flowers from his hand and scribbling notes at the start of the talks with Moon.

Expectations were generally low on the nuclear issue, given that past so-called breakthroughs on North Korea’s weapons have collapsed amid acrimonious charges of cheating and bad faith. Skeptics of engagement have long said that the North often turns to interminable rounds of diplomacy meant to ease the pain of sanctions — giving it time to perfect its weapons and win aid for unfulfilled nuclear promises.

Advocates of engagement, however, say the only way to get a deal is to do what the Koreas tried Friday: Sit down and see what’s possible.

The White House said in a statement that it is “hopeful that talks will achieve progress toward a future of peace and prosperity for the entire Korean Peninsula. … (and) looks forward to continuing robust discussions in preparation for the planned meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks.”

By Foster Klug

Rapper and “Crazy Rich Asians” actress Awkwafina will be presenting nominations for the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards alongside “Orange is the New Black” actress Laverne Cox on Dec. 12.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards is an annual celebration of the previous year’s outstanding television and film acting performances. It’s the only televised awards ceremony that exclusively pays recognition to actors.

It’s been a great year for Awkwafina. In addition to her roles in “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Ocean’s 8,” she’s currently working with Comedy Central on a 10-episode, scripted series about her early adult life in New York City.

The SAG Awards will be broadcast live on TNT and TBS on Jan. 27.

By Mae Hamilton

The world’s most popular pink, British pig is getting her own movie — in Chinese!

STX Entertainment has teamed up with the Chinese film company, Alibaba Pictures, to distribute “Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year” in the U.S. on Feb. 6. The film will be playing in 65 theaters across the country mainly in cities with large Chinese populations like New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. “Peppa” will be making its Chinese debut one day earlier on the first day of the Year of the Pig. The U.S. version of the film will have English subtitles.

The movie focuses on Peppa’s three-generation-large family reuniting to celebrate Lunar New Year. It will feature time-honored traditions like dumpling wrapping and dragon dances. Peppa Pig is already a wildly popular figure in China in almost every echelon of society from young kids to gangsters to celebrities. A teaser of the film has gotten over 300 million views while the film’s #WhatIsPeppa hashtag has garnered over 1.63 billion reads on Sina Weibo.

“Through our collaboration with eOne, we have created a beautiful Peppa Pig story immersed in Chinese New Year tradition and culture,” said president of Alibaba Pictures, Wei Zhang in a press release. “We are proud to bring this story to the global market, so that audiences around the world can take part in the celebration of Chinese New Year.”

Chin Yang Lee, who wrote the best-selling novel “Flower Drum Song,” passed away on Nov. 8. His family chose not to make his death public at the time.

Born in China’s Hunan Province to a family of rice farmers, Lee came to America fleeing the ravages of World War II and with the goal of becoming a playwright. However, while working as a translator and journalist, he started to write books instead.

“Flower Drum Song” was Lee’s first novel and explores the cultural gap between second-generation Chinese Americans and their first-generation parents in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The novel was wildly successful, but almost never got published. After being rejected several times, his agent took his novel to Farrar, Straus and Cudahy who gave the manuscript to an ill, elderly reader to review. Shortly after, the reader was found dead in bed with the book next to him with the words “Read this” scrawled on the front. So, the publishing house did. The rest is history.

“Without those two words, the novel would have never been published,” Lee said in an AP interview in 2002.

The book was turned into a Broadway musical that served as Gene Kelly’s stage directing debut and, later on, was adapted into a film. “Flower Drum Song” became the first Hollywood movie with a majority Asian cast and even featured a musical score by Rodgers and Hammerstein to boot.

The movie was met with mixed reviews by critics and some claimed that Lee’s novel relied on tired stereotypes to depict Chinese American life. Regardless, the film went on to receive five Academy Award nominations.

After “Flower Drum Song,” Lee wrote ten more books, but none were as successful as his first. Despite the controversy his debut caused, Lee is considered a pioneer in Asian American literature who brought complicated issues of identity, community and belonging to the forefront of mainstream consciousness.

The highest-charting female K-pop group on the Billboard Hot 100 might just be coming to a venue near you!

On Jan. 11, the wildly popular K-pop group, BLACKPINK, announced they would be going on their first North American tour this spring. The girls made their U.S. television debut last night (Feb. 12) on the “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and went on to perform on “Good Morning America” the next day. In addition to their tour dates, the girls will also be at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. They will be the first K-pop girl group to go on a world tour with a live band.

Since their founding in 2016 by members Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rosé, BLACKPINK has shot to worldwide fame. When the music video of their single “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” was released in Jan. 2019, it became the most watched video on YouTube for 24 hours. The single broke 600 million views and became the most viewed K-pop music video on the platform.

Catch BLACKPINK at one of their upcoming shows. Tickets will go on sale at 4pm locally on Wednesday, Feb. 20.

April 17 – Los Angeles, The Forum

April 24 – Chicago, Allstate Arena

April 27 – Hamilton, Ontario, FirstOntario Centre

May 1 – Newark, Prudential Center

May 5 – Atlanta, Infinite Energy Arena

May 8 – Dallas/Ft. Worth, Ft. Worth CC Arena

American figure skater Vincent Zhou made Olympic history in Pyeongchang last night. On Feb. 15, Zhou landed the first quadruple lutz in the Games’ history during his short program […]

The post Vincent Zhou Lands Historic Quad Lutz in Pyeongchang appeared first on Character Media.

When Pechanga Entertainment Center opened in California’s Temecula Valley in 1995, it was housed in temporary facilities, and run by 135 employees.   Twenty years later, in December 2015, […]

The post Pechanga Resort & Casino Unveils $300 Million Expansion appeared first on Character Media.

GOYANG, South Korea — The leaders of North and South Korea vowed Friday to seek a nuclear-free peninsula and work toward a formal end to the Korean War this […]

The post Historic Steps: Kim Jong Un Strides Across Korean Border appeared first on Character Media.

Elizabeth Sung, the veteran stage, film and TV actress and prominent figure in the Asian American arts community, died Tuesday at the age of 63. Sung was born in […]

The post Asian American Community Bids Farewell To Veteran Actress Elizabeth Sung appeared first on Character Media.

One Hollywood institution is taking calls for diversity into action: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Academy Awards, has invited a record 928 […]

The post Academy Continues Diversity Push With Record Number of Invites appeared first on Character Media.

Known to vacationers statewide, Pechanga Resort & Casino recently completed a nearly three-year, $285 million project in March. The expansion centered on amenities, including 568 more rooms, a new […]

The post Pechanga Resort & Casino Adds More Accommodations For Asian Customers appeared first on Character Media.

Early last month inside Crustacean Beverly Hills, a ceremony took place in front of South Korean dignitaries, Los Angeles city and county officials, council members, Congressman Kwang-soo Kim, as […]

The post The Fresh Prince: A New Korean Royal Is Named appeared first on Character Media.