Briefly

KOREAN PENINSULA

Moon offers to resume DPRK cooperation

President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea on Monday offered to resume cooperation with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea by offering help to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak. "The COVID-19 crisis can be a new opportunity for inter-Korean cooperation as it is the most urgent and desperate task as of now," Moon said at a meeting marking the second anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration. The declaration was signed by Moon and the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un during their first summit on April 27, 2018, at the border village of Panmunjom. The two leaders then agreed to a complete denuclearization in the peninsula.

IRAQ

US renews waiver for Iran power imports

The United States has renewed a waiver for Iraq to continue importing electricity from Iran, a US State Department official said on Sunday, but this time for a shorter period of 30 days, adding that Washington would be reassessing whether to renew again once a "credible government" is formed in Iraq. "The Secretary granted this brief extension of the waiver to allow time for the formation of a credible government," an official said, referring to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and added that the waiver would expire on May 26.

UNITED KINGDOM

99-year-old veteran tops music charts

A 99-year-old British World War II veteran who shot to fame raising millions for health workers fighting the coronavirus outbreak has become the oldest artist to reach No 1 in the UK music singles charts. Tom Moore's rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone－a much-loved and widely covered song from a 1945 musical－sold 82,000 units, the Press Association news agency said on Friday, beating Canadian artist The Weeknd's Blinding Lights into second place. "It's out of this world, truly amazing!" Moore, a captain who served in India, said on his official Twitter account. Guinness World Records also announced Moore had broken the record for raising the most money in an individual charity walk－more than $33 million.

Xinhua - Agencies