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April 18, 2024
The fugitive creator of an online Ponzi scheme game was extradited to Turkey late Saturday.
Mehmet Aydin, 29, who surrendered to the Turkish Consulate in Sao Paulo, was arrested at the Istanbul Airport in an ongoing investigation by Istanbul prosecutors after a Turkish Airlines plane arrived at 10.10 p.m.
Aydin, nicknamed “Tosuncuk,” who was also sought with a red notice by Interpol upon Turkey’s request, is accused of several crimes, including "establishing a criminal organization" and "fraud" and faces up to 75,260 years in prison.
Following medical checks, he was taken to the Istanbul Police Department after procedures at the Istanbul Airport Courthouse.
Following an interrogation period of four days, he will appear before the Istanbul Anatolian Court.
The Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said that as part of the investigations initiated, two separate public cases have been filed against suspects to date, and a probe is ongoing regarding the suspects who have not yet been caught or for whom evidence has not been collected.
Several lawsuits were filed against Aydin in courts in Istanbul and Bursa for charges, including "Fraud by Using Information Systems, Banks or Credit Institutions.”
The prosecutor's office prepared an indictment against 48 suspects, seven of whom are fugitives and 11 are under arrest, as part of the investigation conducted against the founders and managers of the Farm Bank.
During the trial process at the Anatolian High Criminal Court, 18 of 48 defendants were acquitted.
The trial is prosecuting 20 defendants, four of whom were fugitives, including Aydin, his elder brother Fatih Aydin, Cengiz Samur, and Osman Naim Kaya.
The trial against the defendants will be heard by the Anatolian 6th High Criminal Court on Sept. 14.
In 2016, Aydin founded the Farm Bank, also known as “Ciftlik Bank” in Turkey that defrauded 3,762 people. It was inspired by the FarmVille social media game;
After complaints by thousands of users, a red notice was issued on March 19, 2018, based on an arrest warrant. But he disappeared and had been at large for the last two years.
Turkey’s Ministry of Justice contacted every country where Aydin was allegedly seen, within the framework of judicial cooperation, including Uruguay, Brazil, Panama, Honduras, Canada, and Ukraine.
Upon notification that Aydin was reportedly seen in Brazil, his extradition was requested from Brazil in June 2018. The request was repeated in February./aa
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American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson has been suspended for one month after failing a drug test, the US Anti-Doping Agency said on Friday.
The 21-year-old tested positive for a “main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, marijuana, and hashish,” the agency said in a statement.
Richardson has “accepted a one-month suspension … for an anti-doping rule violation for testing positive for a substance of abuse,” the statement said.
The ban, which comes into effect from June 28, the date of her provisional suspension, leaves her set to miss the Olympics starting in Japan later this month.
“Richardson’s competitive results obtained on June 19, 2021, including her Olympic qualifying results at the Team Trials, have been disqualified,” the agency said.
“Beyond the one-month sanction, athlete eligibility for the Tokyo Games is determined by the USOPC (US Olympic & Paralympic Committee) and/or USA Track & Field eligibility rules.”/aa
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A person wearing a sweater with 'Progress Pride Flag' colors, including rainbow and black and brown stripes for communities of color, walks past rainbow flags at the Stonewall National Monument, the first US national monument dedicated to LGBTQ history and rights, marking the birthplace of the modern lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights movement, on June 1, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) - Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty ImagesMore
Teachers should drop the terms boys and girls in favour of “learners”, and mix up the sexes in PE classes, Stonewall has told schools.
The controversial LGBT charity is urging teachers to ditch all gendered language and gendered uniforms and suggests that children should compete against the opposite sex in sport.
A series of guidance documents state that uniform policies should "give the option to wear a skirt as well as the option to wear trousers". One of Stonewall’s guides said that its work in primary schools was funded by the Government Equalities Office.
Stonewall advises school staff that they should: “Avoid dividing learners by gender, whether in the classroom (you could divide them by their favourite colour, month of birth or something else) or through uniform, sports activities or other aspects of school life.”
Trans pupils can use the lavatories, changing rooms and dorms on school trips that they feel most comfortable in, another booklet states.
To be a member of the Stonewall School & College Champion schools, establishments have to pay a yearly fee, starting at £150 plus VAT for those with less than 100 pupils, and rising to £800 plus VAT for those with more than 2,000 learners.
St Paul’s, the prestigious private school in London, is reportedly among the hundreds of primary and secondary schools that are members.
Champions are then able to apply for a Bronze, Silver or Gold award to show how well they are following the “best practice”.
Those wishing to win are directed to a guide which tells them that “it is unnecessary to say 'boys and girls' when referring to learners of all genders, you could instead say 'learners'".
They are told that they should check their policies and remove any “unnecessarily gendered language. Instead of using ‘he’/‘she’, you could use ‘they'".
They should also teach primary school children to use “they/them” as a pronoun, it is said.
Tanya Carter, a spokesman for the parents and teachers campaign group Safe Schools Alliance UK, said “It is shocking that cash-strapped schools are paying for misinformation from Stonewall that undermines basic safeguarding.”
She said that sport should be "separated by sex for reasons of safety and fairness", particularly in light of a recent Ofsted report that found sexual harassment was prevalent in schools.
"Single sex sports are important to girls for reasons of privacy and dignity. This is necessary to increase girls’ participation," Ms Carter said. "Girls' participation in sports is essential to both physical and mental health.”
It is unclear what process schools go through to get an award, but an investigation by The Telegraph recently revealed the lengthy process that public bodies and companies go through to be recognised on the charity’s equality leaderboard.
The resources are also used by councils for Stonewall's Children and Young People's Services Programme. Local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales compete for a separate awards scheme requiring 'best practice' in their child provision.
Stonewall’s advice to educators also includes that teachers should not use 'boy, girl, boy, girl' when lining pupils up and ditch phrases such as 'man up' and 'don't be such a girl'.
Gendered language should also be avoided when discussing hair, make-up and piercings, it says.
A Stonewall terminology exercise for children tests them on "transitioning" and "gender dysphoria", a medical term for feeling a mismatch between birth sex and lived gender.
A spokesman for the charity said it was “very proud of all of our work supporting schools to create supportive and inclusive environments which help everyone feel accepted for who they are”.
They added that they are “confident that the advice that we give schools is robust” and “in line with the Department for Education’s guidance for schools in England, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Equality Act Code of Practice”.
A government Equalities Office spokesperson said: "Six organisations were awarded funding to deliver programmes tackling anti-homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools across the country. The funding was a one-off payment for 2019-20."/The Telegraph
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The Covid-19 Advisory Board of the government responsible for fighting the outbreak in Japan said on Friday that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics should be played without spectators, according to the Kyodo agency.
Shigeru Omi, head of the Japan Community Health Care Organization, held a news conference in Tokyo regarding proposals the board made to the government about the Games.
Omi said that it is reasonable to organize the Games without spectators.
He said it would be the most effective way to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
Omi advised organizers to think about ways to reduce the risk, identify scenarios that provide strong measures and to make their decisions public as soon as possible.
In addition, 26 experts, including Director-General of National Institute of Infectious Diseases Takaji Wakita shared concerns with the government and the organizational team that the Olympics could trigger a new wave of the coronavirus outbreak.
Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organizers thought similarly to the opinions of the experts about spectators at the Games and they will work on ways that allow spectators to be in the stands safely, in consultation with experts.
The Olympic Games, which were postponed last year because of the pandemic, will be held July 23 - Aug. 8 and the Paralympic Games from Aug. 24 - Sept. 5./aa
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Job-related stress threatens teacher supply: US study
Staff
June 19, 2021
Job-related stress threatens the supply of teachers in the US, according to a new study by Rand Corporation, an American think-tank.
While teaching was a stressful profession even before COVID-19, it has become more stressful during the pandemic, said the 2021 State of the US Teacher Survey conducted in January and February 2021.
"Teachers are navigating unfamiliar technology, are balancing multiple modes of teaching, and have concerns about returning to in-person instruction. In addition, many teachers are caring for their own children while teaching," said the survey released earlier this week.
One in four teachers were considering leaving their job by the end of 2020-21 academic year, more than in a typical pre-pandemic year and a higher rate than employed adults nationally, it said.
"Teachers were more likely to report experiencing frequent job-related stress and symptoms of depression than the general population," it said, noting Black teachers are "particularly likely" to plan to leave.
While mode of instruction and health are the highest-ranked stress factors for teachers, other common reasons to quit teaching include stressful working conditions and increased personal responsibilities.
Technical problems while teaching remotely were also linked to job-related stress, depressive symptoms, and burnout.
The study recommended schools to implement COVID-19 mitigation measures to allow teachers focus on instruction, collection of data on teacher working conditions and well-being on a state and district level, and providing them mental health and wellness support./aa
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Demonstrations in Budapest decry establishment of 1st Chinese university in Europe
Staff
June 08, 2021
China on Monday opposed what it called “politicization of people-to-people contacts” after people in Hungary protested the establishment of a Chinese university's campus in the country's capital Budapest.
“Transnational joint education programs, a common model of international educational cooperation nowadays, serves as an important platform to promote mutual understanding,” Wang Wenbin, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, told a news conference in Beijing.
“It is in keeping with the trend of the times and the interests of all,” he added.
Tens of hundreds of people held demonstrations in Budapest last weekend against the opening of a satellite campus of Shanghai-based Fudan University in the city.
Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, has backed the opening of the university campus.
Protesters are wary of the university’s costs and its alleged links with the China’s ruling Communist Party.
“We hope relevant individuals in Hungary will remain objective and rational, follow the science, and avoid politicizing or stigmatizing normal cultural and people-to-people exchanges with China to uphold overall friendly bilateral relations,” Wang emphasized, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.
Founded in 1905, Fudan University had signed a memorandum with Hungary's Ministry for Innovation and Technology on setting up the new campus in Budapest in December 2019 and the first phase of the project is expected to start operating in 2024.
When completed, it would be the first Chinese university in Europe.
The satellite campus is open for admissions to students from across the world and the graduates will be awarded a Hungarian degree, a Chinese degree or a Chinese-Hungarian dual degree./aa
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Schools across the U.S. plagued with 'Third World' issues, experts and local officials say
Staff
June 07, 2021
Clumpy lead paint and plaster curl off the walls of some inner-city Philadelphia schools. Staff members at a Florida school haul sandbags and clear drains manually during heavy storms. A 1930s-era boiler is still used to heat a Rhode Island school.
The snapshots are in a report last year from the Government Accountability Office, the first comprehensive picture of the dilapidated state of school facilities since Congress tried to call attention to the problem nearly 25 years ago after finding that a third of schools were in severely deficient condition.
The situation has only worsened since then in many inner-city and poor rural schools, environmental engineering experts and local officials say. And some worry that even an influx of cash from the federal government won't be enough to remedy the issue.
"When I became superintendent, the most glaring example of disparity was the infrastructure," said Nikolai Vitti, who was appointed superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District in 2017. The poor conditions included water-stained, decaying ceiling tiles and repeated school closings because of "oven"-like conditions in warmer months and no heat in the winter, Vitti said.
"That's a Third World country infrastructure issue, not something that we should be thinking about in America," he said.
Nationwide, the backlog in school maintenance and repair projects is at least $500 billion, the nonprofit 21st Century School Fund estimates.
The Biden administration's American Rescue Plan would inject $193 billion into the country's crumbling schools. In guidance it issued last month, the Education Department said schools can use the money on "school facility repairs and improvements to reduce the risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, as well as inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities."
But it cautions against new construction projects that could suck money from "essential needs and initiatives" and warns that major remodeling, renovation and new construction projects might be time-consuming and, therefore, unfeasible, because relief funds must be obligated by September 2024.
What's more, much of the money is expected to go to remedy learning loss and to hire teachers and support staff members. Some districts are also under pressure to add security features, such as bulletproof windows and door barricades, after numerous school shootings.
In short, the funding isn't nearly enough to overcome decades of neglect compounding health and safety risks, primarily in minority, underserved communities, local officials say.
In Detroit, where school buildings are 66 years old on average, the money will cover half of an infrastructure backlog estimated at $1.5 billion, Vitti said.
The disrepair in many inner-city schools is one of the starkest illustrations of inequality in America. Most school funding is tied to local tax bases, not formulas for equitable distribution.
"It really is a national tragedy when you start looking at these schools and understand what kids are subjected to," said Jerry Roseman, an environmental engineer for the Philadelphia teachers union. In many buildings, conditions have deteriorated so badly that districts are plowing everything they have into maintenance to prevent schools from "failing catastrophically," Roseman said.
Daniel Peou, principal of Horace Furness High School in Philadelphia, said he no longer feels safe in the school building. He said he and others have developed unexplained rashes after spending time inside.
"The truth is, no, I don't feel comfortable being in there, and I spend most of my days in there," Peou said. "But at the same time, I don't want [students] to be home. I want them to be here. This is where they get their education."
Maria Tobing, a student at the school, remembers one time when "the whole ceiling just went down," almost hitting a teacher.
"We were all shocked, and I couldn't concentrate during my test," Tobing said.
Schools in Philadelphia need $3.5 billion in immediate upgrades, said Roseman, who produced a report last month describing "toxic" conditions in schools that he said have already had a "real impact on health." Eighty percent of district buildings are more than 70 years old, and schools contain hundreds of thousands of square and linear feet of asbestos-containing material, the report found.
"Districts know they cannot fund what they need to fund. So you have to start misrepresenting the truth of that, because no one wants to compromise [faith in] public education. As these problems grow, you are less and less likely to be truthful and fully disclose reports," he said.
The union said the superintendent has stopped sharing information about mold, lead paint and other hazardous materials that it used to share. Monica Lewis, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia superintendent, said the office hadn't received Roseman's report, which is public.
Lewis said that an environmental advisory group is already in place and that issues from last year "have already been addressed." She didn't respond directly to Roseman's claim that the superintendent has stopped sharing information.
Image: Peeling paint inside the auditorium at Horace H. Furness High School in Philadelphia. (Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund)
While there have been significant associated health risks for decades, the Covid-19 pandemic has shed new light on the scale of the problem. For example, last summer the GAO estimated that 36,000 schools nationwide needed heating and air-conditioning repairs or updates for problems that, if left unaddressed, could lead to poor air quality and mold.
Other hazards the GAO has recently documented: 51 percent of the 100 largest school districts found lead-based paint in schools, and fewer than half of school districts have tested for lead in drinking water.
No federal law requires testing of drinking water for lead in schools that get their water from public systems. Furthermore, most states don't conduct statewide assessments, leaving it to individual districts.
"There's a weird regulatory gap when it comes to lead in the water," said Anisa Heming, director of the Center for Green Schools, which advocates for greener and healthier school buildings. "A lot of schools are scared to test, because they don't have the money to fix it."
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Turkey won 18 medals at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships, the Turkish Weightlifting Federation (TWF) confirmed Monday.
Competing in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, the Turkish athletes, including 10 men and 11 women, claimed six gold, six silver and six bronze medals in the tournament.
The women's national team collected 672 points to clinch the top of the standings for the first time in 17 years, the federation added.
The federation also said that the Russian team came in second with 608 points, while the US team finished in third spot with 594 points.
With 572 points, the men's national team trailed behind first-place Russia, which amassed 646 points in the men's category.
TWF President Tamer Taspinar congratulated the weightlifters and their trainers on winning the medals./aa
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At least 3,000 children, including 1,424 girls, have been out of school since the end of March following recent intercommunal clashes in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a UN report on Monday.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the clashes in the health zones of Kakenge and Bena Leka have also forced 36,600 people to flee the area.
Temporary learning spaces, school supplies for students, teachers and host schools, as well as the organization of remedial classes and training of teachers in psychosocial support are urgently needed to facilitate the return of children to school, according to OCHA.
No emergency education response capacity is available in the two affected provinces, according to the report.
It warned that if urgent action is not taken to support these displaced students, they risk being exposed to various types of abuse and exploitation.
At least 651,500 people are in need of emergency food assistance in the territories of Kamonia and Luebo (Kasai), Dibaya (Kasai central) and Kabeya Kamuanga (Kasai-Oriental), OCHA said, quoting the Food Security Cluster of the Kasai region./aa
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Spain: Government comes out against Europe Super League
Staff
April 20, 2021
Spain’s government on Monday condemned the creation of a breakaway football league, seeking a way to defuse a major shakeup in the world of professional sports.
Culture and Sports Minister José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes spent his day in meetings with the presidents of the three Spanish teams backing the new European Super League, as well as the heads of European football authority UEFA, the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and La Liga.
“Through conversations, the government has verified that all parties are interested in dialogue… and hopes it will lead to an agreement that benefits everyone,” said a statement released afterward.
Spain’s Real Madrid, Atletico de Madrid, and Barcelona have all signed up for the new league. Six British teams and three from Italy are also on board.
Florentino Perez, the current president of Real Madrid, has been named the league’s first chairman.
Under the proposal, the league would consist of 20 teams from across Europe that would play matches all season until a finale in May.
The major European football leagues said in a statement: “We remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, a project that is founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever.”
The statement also said that the clubs involved in the rebel league will be banned from playing in other domestic or international competitions, while their players could also be denied the chance to represent national teams in tournaments like the World Cup.
Javier Tebas, the head of Spain’s La Liga, slammed the move, tweeting that “gurus of the superleague... are exiting the darkness of the bar at 5 AM, intoxicated with selfishness and a lack of solidarity.”
The major criticism of the new league is that it will leave out less powerful teams and could steal the spotlight from other football leagues.
The 12 clubs that signed up for the super league said in a statement that the move aims to put the game on “a sustainable footing for the long-term future” and “open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities.”
“The pandemic has shown that a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach are required to enhance value and support for the benefit of the entire European football pyramid.”/aa
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Niger: 20 children killed in school blaze in Niamey
Staff
April 14, 2021
At least 20 students from a nursery school were killed on Tuesday in a fire that ravaged the establishment, located in the Nigerien capital Niamey, according to local media on Wednesday.
"Twenty classes in straw huts were consumed by the fire and unfortunately 20 children were killed," Col. Sidi Mohamed, the head of the firefighters told the country's national broadcaster Tele Sahel.
Reached by Anadolu Agency, Halidou Mounkaila, the secretary-general of the National Trade Union of Contractual Agents and Civil Servants in Basic Education said: "25 out of 38 classrooms in the school were devastated by the fire," adding that "the provisional death toll is 20."
The school where the fire started is located on the southeastern outskirts of Niamey, not far from the airport.
Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou visited the scene and conveyed the government's "compassion" to the families of the deceased children./aa
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Sports ministers see Ethnosport key field for values
Staff
April 11, 2021
Sports ministers on Saturday emphasized the importance of the Ethnosport for countries' cultural and traditional roots and values as well as boosting competition internationally.
The fourth Ethnosport Forum was held in Istanbul's Radisson Blu hotel as Qatari, Serbian, Gambian, Malian and Somalian sports ministers joined an online session and the moderator was the World Ethnosport Confederation president (WEC) Necmeddin Bilal Erdogan.
Qatar's sports minister Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali said that traditional sports have the same passion, competition and benefits as all sports branches and they are the parts of the identities of the nations.
Al Ali stated that the youth would be interested in them if the nations played their cards right and should know the histories of their countries to focus on the Ethnosport.
He added that traditional sports should have a chance to improve.
Serbian sports minister Vanja Udovicic said that they are doing their best to enhance traditional sports as Serbia has local championships in this field.
Udovicic stated that they are organizing events to amass traditional values and youngsters and to instill a traditional point of view.
He said that Serbia wants to boost its international competition power in the Ethnosport, supporting them.
Bakary Badjie - the Gambian sports minister - said that sports events in Gambia were canceled for almost a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Badjie said that youth in Gambia got further away from sports because of the COVID-19 restrictions, but the people can establish bonds via the Ethnosport to benefit from the traditional sports to connect people.
Meanwhile, Malian sports minister Mossa Attaher said that his country had old traditions for ethnic sports; however, they lack chances to promote them institutionally.
Attaher said that Mali aims to hold events in all their traditional sports branches as the countries can not succeed in modern sports if they ignore the traditional ones.
Somalian sports minister Hamza Said Hamza said that the Ethnosport is the base of all sports branches as it is a culture and identity for countries.
Hamza separately said that disasters and civil wars could block sports as they used it as an instrument for peace, and Somalia pulled through after the civil war.
He added that the coronavirus is blocking sports in the country, but they are determined to bring them back and Somalia is now doing its best to improve the youth despite all disasters, including the pandemic.
Ethnosport is not an industrialized sports field as football or basketball but focuses on the traditional sports of nations such as oil wrestling, range and mounted archeries, and equestrian javelin.
It has a confederation; the WEC, founded in 2015 and its headquarters is in Istanbul and Ethnosport aims to raise awareness of traditional sports and games./aa
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China on Wednesday hit back at the U.S., accusing it of "politicizing sports," after Washington said it would discuss boycotting the Beijing Olympics with allies amid growing calls to shun the Winter Games on human rights grounds.
Republican politicians in the U.S. have led calls for a boycott of the Olympics, in part over what rights monitors say is the mass incarceration and indoctrination of more than a million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim people in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
China has rejected the claims and said Wednesday that allegations of genocide are "the lie of the century from top to bottom."
"As for the idea of a so-called joint boycott of the Beijing Olympics, I want to stress that politicizing sports goes against the spirit of the Olympic Charter, and damages the rights and interests of each country's athletes and the global Olympic cause," said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.
He said it would "not be accepted by the international community."
On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price was asked if the United States would consider a joint boycott with allies and said it was "something that we certainly wish to discuss."
But he later stressed that the United States does not "have any announcement regarding the Beijing Olympics," writing on Twitter that "we will continue to consult closely with allies and partners to define our common concerns and establish our shared approach."
"When it comes to our concerns with the government in Beijing, including Beijing's egregious human rights violations – its conduct of genocide in the case of Xinjiang," Price said, U.S. action is "meaningful" but an effort that "brings along our allies and partners will have all the more influence with Beijing."
President Joe Biden's administration has repeatedly kept the door open to boycotting the Olympics without announcing any firm direction.
A potential boycott of the Beijing Olympics has increasingly become embroiled in U.S. domestic politics, with Republicans seeking to paint Biden as hypocritical and soft on China.
The United States led a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, with the Soviet bloc snubbing the Summer Games in Los Angeles four years later in retaliation.
US Olympic chiefs oppose boycott
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), in the meantime, reiterated its opposition to a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, saying athletes should not be used as "political pawns."
In remarks to reporters ahead of a U.S. Olympic team media event, USOPC president Susanne Lyons repeated the organization's stance that boycotts were ineffective.
"We at the USOPC oppose athlete boycotts because they've been shown to negatively impact athletes while not effectively addressing global issues," Lyons said.
"For our athletes, their only dream is to represent the USA and what we stand for on the international field of play.
"We do not believe that Team USA's young athletes should be used as political pawns."
The Beijing Winter Games are scheduled to begin on Feb. 4 next year, just six months after the postponed summer Tokyo Olympics./agencies
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The municipal government of South Korean capital Seoul on Thursday formally notified the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of its bid to co-host the 2032 Games with North Korea's Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported.
The IOC said in February that Brisbane was its preferred candidate to host the Games, adding it would enter "targeted dialogue" with the Australian bid organizers.
But the Seoul municipal government Thursday urged them to reconsider the bid for the two Koreas to co-host the Games, agreed to at a summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in September 2018.
Yonhap reported Seoul's bid emphasized the peace-building potential of the co-hosting, as well as a "combination of cutting-edge technologies and Korean culture."
North Korea has not publicly commented on the bid, which comes amid markedly frosty relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.
The two have not held formal talks in over two years, and last week saw North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's influential sister slam the South's president as "a parrot raised by America" after he criticized a missile test by Pyongyang.
South Korea last hosted the Olympics in 2018, during which the two Koreas' teams marched under a united flag. North Korea has never hosted the Olympics.
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