U.S. team in N. Korea raises expectations of a summit
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials worked with North Korea over the weekend on plans for the on-off-on meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as Trump signaled increasing optimism for the sit-down.
Trump tweeted Sunday that a U.S. team was in North Korea to work on the possible summit. Another delegation was in Singapore to discuss logistics. On Monday, the White House said Trump had spoken with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the North Korea efforts, adding that the two planned to get together to coordinate strategy for the “expected meeting” with Kim.
Trump withdrew from the planned June 12 summit in Singapore last Thursday, but quickly announced it could still happen. The president’s Sunday tweet offered praise for the longtime U.S. adversary, another signal that his concerns about the North’s stance toward the summit had been allayed.
“I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!,” Trump tweeted.
Alberto after landfall: Threat of heavy rains and flooding
Subtropical Storm Alberto rumbled inland Monday after its Memorial Day strike on the U.S. Gulf Coast, driving holiday weekend beachgoers away as heavy rains began pelting wide areas of the Southeast amid a rising flood threat.
Forecasters warned that downpours from the vast system of swirling storm bands now raise the danger of flash flooding across several Southern states in coming hours and days. Alberto’s ragged core made landfall near Laguna Beach in the Florida Panhandle on Monday afternoon before it began crawling inland.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Alberto was centered at about 7 p.m. Monday near the community of DeFuniak Springs in the Florida Panhandle. With maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph), Alberto had begun weakening as it moved to the north at 10 mph (17 kph).
Between four and eight inches (10-25 centimeters) of rain could pummel Florida Panhandle, eastern and central Alabama, and western Georgia before the storm moves on. Isolated deluges of 12 inches (30 centimeters) also were possible.
Rescuers seek missing man after Maryland flash flood
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — A man remained missing Monday after flash flooding tore down a historic main street in a picturesque Maryland town and left a community heartbroken at seeing more devastation less than two years after rebuilding from another massive flood.
The missing man — 39-year-old Eddison Hermond of Severn, Maryland — was last seen trying to help a woman rescue her cat behind a restaurant while churning, brown waters ripped through Ellicott City’s flood-prone downtown.
Howard County Police Chief Gary Gardner said the missing National Guard member and U.S. Air Force veteran had been with a group at the La Palapa Grill &Cantina. He said Hermond was trying to help others by holding a door open as brown floodwaters coursed through the restaurant.
By wire sources
