Chicago Sun Times News

  South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he will pardon his chief conservative rival and predecessor, Park Geun-hye, who is serving a lengthy prison term for bribery and other crimes   SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Friday he will pardon his chief conservative rival and predecessor, Park Geun-hye, who is serving a lengthy prison term for bribery and other crimes. Moon’s liberal government said the pardon is meant to overcome past divisions and promote national unity in the face of difficulties brought by the pandemic. Some observers say Moon may want to ease a burden stemming from Park’s health problems, or even use her to split the opposition ahead of March presidential elections. “We should move into a new era by getting over the pains of the past. It’s time to boldly pull together all our strengths for the future rather than fighting against each other while being preoccupied with the past,” Moon said in remarks released by his office. “In the case of

  IMAGE SOURCE, EPA Image caption, A spokesperson for Mr Abramovich said the allegations "lacked evidence and were indeed false" Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has received an apology from a publisher over defamatory allegations. HarperCollins published a book which included the claim that Mr Abramovich bought London football club Chelsea on the orders of Russia's President Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday the company apologised to Mr Abramovich and confirmed it had reached a settlement. It has amended the book, Putin's People by UK journalist Catherine Belton. Published by HarperCollins last year, Putin's People included an allegation by another Russian billionaire, Sergei Pugachev, that Mr Abramovich had bought the club in 2003 on the orders of Mr Putin. In a statement, the publisher said Ms Belton's book "contained some inaccurate information" about Mr Abramovich. "While the book always included a denial that Mr Abramovich was acting under