WORLD DIGEST || Parents sue N. Korea over death of son

Parents sue N. Korea over death of son

WASHINGTON

The parents of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against North Korea, saying its government tortured and killed their son.

Fred and Cindy Warmbier of Wyoming, Ohio, filed the suit Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The lawsuit seeks compensation for the death of Otto Warmbier, who was arrested by North Korean authorities in January 2016 for stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He died in June 2017, days after he was repatriated to the U.S. with severe brain damage.

CNN's Gupta urges Sessions to support medical marijuana

NEW YORK

CNN’s medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has taken the unusual step of publicly urging Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reconsider his opposition to medical marijuana, particularly as a way to fight the opioid epidemic.

Gupta wrote a public letter to Sessions, saying that he had changed his mind on the use of medical marijuana, “and I am certain you can, as well.”

He said he made his plea after Sessions declined to be interviewed for his special on the topic, which airs Sunday night at 8 on CNN. A spokeswoman for Sessions declined comment Thursday.

At least 9 teens die in flash floods in Israel

JERUSALEM

Flash floods killed nine Israeli teenagers who were hiking south of the Dead Sea on Thursday, Israel’s rescue service said.

The casualties were all 18 years old. Israeli media said eight of the fatalities were female and one was male. Police said another hiker is still missing.

Earlier, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 25 students in a pre-army course were “caught off guard” and some were “washed away” by heavy rains while they were hiking in the area.

Rosenfeld said 15 hikers were rescued.

Russia parades Syrian 'witnesses' to disprove attack

THE HAGUE, Netherlands

Russia ratcheted up its efforts Thursday to try to disprove that a Syrian town was hit by a poison gas attack, bringing a group of Syrians, including an 11-year-old boy, to the global chemical weapons watchdog’s headquarters to denounce the reports as fake.

The U.S., Britain, France and their allies boycotted the event at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, branding it as “nothing more than a crude propaganda exercise” and an “obscene masquerade.”

The insistence by Russia and Syria that the chemical weapons attack was staged runs counter to witnesses and survivors interviewed by The Associated Press, some of them in Douma, who described being overwhelmed by a strong smell of chlorine.

Kim Jong Un crosses into South, shakes hands with Moon

GOYANG, South Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made history by crossing over to the southern side of the world’s most heavily armed border to meet rival South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

It’s the first time a member of the Kim dynasty has set foot on southern soil since the end of the Korean War in 1953 and the latest bid to settle the world’s last Cold War standoff.

The overwhelming focus of the summit, the country’s third, will be on North Korea’s growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Kim’s news agency said today that the leader would “open-heartedly” discuss with Moon “all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations.”

Associated Press