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"North Korea vows toughest anti-US policy before Trump takes office."

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What The World is following North Korea vows toughest anti-US policy before Trump takes office Credit: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to implement the “toughest” anti-US policy, state media reported Sunday, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as US president. Trump’s return to the White House raises prospects for high-profile diplomacy with North Korea. During his first term, Trump met Kim three times for talks on the North's nuclear program. Many experts, however, say a quick resumption of Kim-Trump summitry is unlikely as Trump would first focus on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. During a five-day plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party that ended Friday, Kim called the US “the most reactionary state that regards anti-communism as its invariable state policy.” Kim said that the US-South Korea-Japan security partnership is expanding into “a nuclear military bloc for aggression." Syria Syria's de facto leader said Sunday it could take up to four years to hold elections in Syria and that he plans to dissolve his Islamist group that led the country's insurgency at an anticipated national dialogue summit for the country. Ahmad al-Sharaa — formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — who leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group leading the new authority in Syria, made the remarks in an interview with Saudi television network Al-Arabiya. It comes almost a month after a lightning insurgency led by HTS overthrew President Bashar al-Assad's decades-long rule, ending the country's uprising-turned-civil war that started in 2011. Al-Sharaa said it would take time to hold elections because of the need for Syria's different forces to hold political dialogue and rewrite the country's constitution following five decades of the Assad dynasty's dictatorial rule.  Georgia Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili was formally inaugurated as president of Georgia on Sunday, cementing the ruling party's grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. Outgoing pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said that she was vacating her residence at the Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi Sunday morning. She joined the crowd of her supporters who gathered outside the residence but insisted that she was still the legitimate office holder. She called Kavelashvili's inauguration a “parody." Kavelashvili, 53, the only candidate on the ballot, easily won the vote earlier in December, given the Georgian Dream party’s control of a 300-seat electoral college that replaced direct presidential elections in 2017. Just hours left! We are so close to reaching our fundraising goal! Will you help us cross the finish line and sustain our nonprofit newsroom for another year? From The World Some people on Indonesia’s Simeulue island relied on folklore to escape the 2004 tsunami Credit: Leila Goldstein/The World The majority of deaths from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami were in Indonesia. But the island of Simeulue was largely spared. Researchers say this was partly due to folklore passed down through the generations that residents are now trying to keep alive. Bright Spot  It’s the holiday season. A time when many of us think about end-of-year giving. The needs are immense. Both close to home and around the world. Stacy Palmer, the editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy speaks with The World’s Host Marco Werman about effective global giving strategies. 📻 Tune in to the show today to hear more. Credit: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/File In case you missed it on The World Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Soundcloud, RSS Thanks to our sponsor:

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