BEIJING / AFP Chinese President Xi Jinping urged all parties to disputes on the Korean Peninsula to maintain calm and restraint in a meeting on Wednesday with a high-ranking North Korean envoy that appeared aimed at easing strains in the bilateral relationship. Xi’s meeting with Ri Su Yong, head of the ruling Workers Party of Korea’s international department, came …

  Brussels / AFP The European Union on Wednesday formally warned Poland’s rightwing government that it must roll back its overhaul of the top Polish court, which critics warn endangers its independence. “We have decided to send a rule-of-law opinion to the Polish authorities,” European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans said. “Despite our best efforts we have not been …

  Manila / AFP Media groups expressed outrage on Wednesday at Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s endorsement of killing corrupt journalists, warning his comments could incite more murders in a nation already one of the world’s most dangerous for reporters. Duterte, who won last month’s elections in a landslide after pledging to kill tens of thousands of criminals, told reporters on …