North Korea has returned remains believed to be of US troops killed during the Korean War, the latest move in the cautious diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang.
Troops formed an honour guard as the plane carrying the remains touched down at a US base in South Korea.
Relatives have waited for years to retrieve the remains of their loved ones.
The repatriation was agreed at the June summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
The summit in Singapore, where the leaders agreed to work towards the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” has been criticised for a lack of details on when or how Pyongyang would renounce nuclear weapons.
But the return of US remains was one of four points actually listed in that June declaration and comes on the 65th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War.
It is believed that 55 soldiers have been returned this time but their remains will need to be forensically tested to ensure they are indeed slain US troops – it’s possible that the identification process could take years.
More than 326,000 Americans fought alongside soldiers from South Korea and a UN coalition during the war to support the South against the Communist North.
Thousands of US military personnel from the Korean war remain unaccounted for and most of them – about 5,300 – were lost in what is now North Korea.
The missing US soldiers are among around 33,000 coalition troops still unaccounted for.
The remains are believed to be in: prisoner of war camps – many perished during the winter of 1950; the sites of major battles, such as the areas around Unsan and Chongchon in the north-west of the country – said to contain approximately 1,600 dead; temporary UN military cemeteries – China and North Korea returned about 3,000 dead Americans in an effort called Operation Glory in 1954, but others remain and the demilitarised zone that separates North and South Korea – said to contain 1,000 bodies.
Between 1990 and 2005, 229 sets were returned, but this halted as relations deteriorated with the development of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
A US military aircraft took the remains to the US base at Osan in South Korea where, according to the White House, a repatriation ceremony will be held on 1 August after some initial testing.
The remains will then be brought to the US to undergo thorough forensic testing.
The White House said it was “a solemn obligation of the United States Government to ensure that the remains are handled with dignity and properly accounted for so their families receive them in an honorable manner.”
The US government said it was “encouraged by North Korea’s actions and the momentum for positive change.”
The return of the dead soldiers was “a significant first step to recommence the repatriation of remains from North Korea and to resume field operations in North Korea to search for the estimated 5,300 Americans who have not yet returned home.”
US child migrants: Trump administration says 1,800 reunited
The Trump administration says it has reunited more than 1,800 migrant children with family members by a court-ordered deadline.
This includes 1,442 children back with their parents in US immigration custody and 378 others released in “appropriate circumstances,” says a court filing.
But more than 700 children are not “eligible” to be reunited, including 431 with parents no longer in the US.
Officials separated more than 2,500 children from undocumented adults.
The government instituted the policy in a “zero tolerance” crackdown on illegal immigration at the border with Mexico earlier this year.
But it was suspended by President Donald Trump last month after a fierce backlash.
The majority of the children were reunified with their parents in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, and 378 others were released in “appropriate circumstances.”
This covers those reunited with parents who were already out of government custody, those sent to another relative or family friend, and those who are now over the age of 18.
Of the 711 deemed ineligible, 120 children’s parents had “waived reunification,” the government said on Thursday evening.
Dozens more remain separated because of “adult red flag,” referring to situations in which the child might be at risk.
A court order imposed a deadline on the Trump administration to release all children aged between five and 17.
San Diego federal judge, Dana Sabraw, ruled last month that all the detained minors separated under the policy should be brought back to their families by 26 July.
“By the court deadline this evening we are on track to reunite all eligible parents within ICE custody,” said Chris Meekins of the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday.
But the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has sued the government over the policy, said US officials had only met “a self-defined deadline.”
ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt told reporters: “The government shouldn’t be proud of the work they’re doing in separation. This is a disaster that they created.”
The court filing says hundreds of children are ineligible to be reunited because their parents have left the country.
The ACLU said it would try to trace the missing parents, but a former acting director of ICE, the agency that rounds up undocumented migrants, said he fears many families will never be reunited.
“There is a very high likelihood that those parents are not going to see their children again,” John Sandweg told CBS News.
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Australian woman guilty of murder in headless torso case
An Australian woman who dumped her partner’s dismembered body next to a road and set it alight has been found guilty of murder.
Lindy Williams, 60, was sentenced on Friday to spend a maximum of life in prison for killing her de facto partner, George Gerbic.
Mr. Gerbic’s headless torso was found in Queensland in 2013.
Williams had pleaded guilty to burning and disposing of his body, but denied killing him.
She told a court that Mr. Gerbic had slipped and hit his head while the couple were having a fight at home in September 2013.
Williams alleged she had left him lying on the floor, and returned days later to find his torso in their bathroom.
But a Supreme Court of Queensland jury disagreed and convicted her of murder, with a judge condemning her “heartless” and “sophisticated” cover-up.
During the trial, Williams told the court that she believed a friend had interfered with Mr Gerbic’s body.
But prosecutors alleged that Williams had dismembered it with an electric saw before dumping Mr. Gerbic’s torso about 80km (50 miles) from the couple’s home.
It took police 10 months to identify the remains.
The court heard Williams lied to family and friends during that period, telling them that Mr. Gerbic was overseas.
In his sentencing remarks, Justice Peter Flanagan said: “Because you dismembered his body, it remains unknown where his head is, where his lower body is, and where his hands are.
“This surely must be one of the worst cases of interference with a human body.”
It also remained unclear how Mr. Gerbic had died, the court heard.
Justice Flanagan ordered her to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Papa John’s founder sues pizza chain
The founder and former chairman of Papa John’s has taken the company to court seeking access to documents related to his exit from the pizza chain.
John Schnatter resigned earlier this month after apologising for using the N-word in a conference call.
Lawyers for Mr. Schnatter said they wanted to see the documents because of the “unexplained and heavy-handed way” that Papa John’s had treated him.
Papa John’s said it was “saddened and disappointed” by the lawsuit.
Mr. Schnatter filed the complaint on Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court.
His attorneys said they were “seeking to inspect company documents because of the unexplained and heavy-handed way in which the company has treated him since the publication of a story that falsely accused him of using a racial slur.”
“Rather than address the real issues like the health of the business, the company is hiding documents that, we believe, will disclose the actual facts as to what is occurring here, including using Mr. Schnatter as a scapegoat to cover up their own shortcomings and failures,” they added.
In a statement Papa John’s said the company was “saddened and disappointed” that Mr. Schnatter had filed a “needless and wasteful lawsuit in an attempt to distract from his own words and actions.”
“We are providing Mr. Schnatter all of the materials he is entitled to as a director.
“We will not let his numerous mis-statements in the complaint and elsewhere distract us from the important work we are doing to move the business forward for our 120,000 corporate and franchise team members, and our franchisees, customers and stakeholders,” the company said.
After Mr. Schnatter’s resignation the company said it would remove his image from its branding.
Papa John’s is the world’s third-largest pizza chain, with more than 350 outlets in the UK and 4,900 restaurants worldwide.
The incident occurred during a media training conference call in May between top staff at Papa John’s and a marketing agency called Laundry Service.
According to Forbes, the call involved a role-playing exercise that was supposed to give Mr. Schnatter experience in dealing with difficult issues.
When discussing how he would distance himself from racist groups, Mr. Schnatter said that Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC, had never faced criticism for using the N-word, Forbes reported.
It was not the first controversy involving Mr. Schnatter. He resigned as chief executive last year after criticising the NFL over players’ national anthem protests.
