While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 18 edition

A man watches a TV showing news reports of Kim Jong-Nam in Seoul on Feb 14, 2017. PHOTO: AFP

North Korea says it will reject Malaysian post-mortem of Kim Jong Nam

North Korea said it would "categorically reject" Malaysia's autopsy report on the death of the man identified by Malaysian authorities as the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim Jong Nam died in Kuala Lumpur this week after being assaulted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport with what was thought to be a fast-acting poison. South Korean and US officials have said he was assassinated by North Korean agents.

In its first comments since the man's death, the North Korean envoy, Kang Chol, demanded that his body be released immediately.

"The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission and witnessing," Kang told reporters outside the hospital late on Friday. "We will categorically reject the result of the post mortem..."

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Indonesian accused of Kim Jong Nam murder 'duped' into thinking it was TV prank show: Officials

An Indonesian woman arrested over the assassination of the North Korean leader's half-brother was "duped" into believing that she was taking part in a TV prank show, officials said.

Siti Aisyah is among three people detained over the Cold War-style killing of Kim Jong Nam in a Malaysian airport on Monday that South Korea says was carried out by female agents armed with poison working for Pyongyang.

But Indonesian Police Chief Tito Karnavian said that Aisyah, 25, was tricked into thinking she was simply taking part in pranks for a TV show like Just For Laughs, a popular hidden camera series.

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China says common interests outweigh differences with US

The common interests between China and the United States far outweigh their differences, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in their first face-to-face meeting since Tillerson took up his job.

US President Donald Trump angered Beijing in December by talking to the president of Taiwan and saying the United States did not have to stick to the "one China" policy, under which Washington acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of it.

In a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week, Trump changed tack and agreed to honour the "one China" policy, a major diplomatic boost for Beijing, which brooks no criticism of its claim to self-ruled Taiwan. Wang said the Xi-Trump call was extremely important, and that the two countries should promote even better relations.

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Germany bans Internet-connected 'spying' doll Cayla

German regulators have banned an Internet-connected doll called "My Friend Cayla" that can chat with children, warning that it was a de facto "spying device".

Parents were urged to disable the interactive toy by the Federal Network Agency which enforces bans on surveillance devices.

The German regulators in a statement warned that anything a child says, or other people's conversations, could be recorded and transmitted without parents' knowledge.

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Football: Asean mulling 2034 World Cup bid - Myanmar

Asean held talks on launching a joint bid for the World Cup in 2034 during a visit by Fifa chief Gianni Infantino to Yangon, the head of Myanmar's football federation said.

Football officials from the 10-member South-east Asian bloc are keen to capitalise on Infantino's decision to expand the tournament to 48 teams by 2026, said Myanmar Football Federation chairman Zaw Zaw.

"Today, this morning, we had a council meeting (about when) we're going to host the World Cup in Asean," he told crowds gathered for the opening of a new football academy in Yangon. "We were discussing 2034."

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