North Korea’s Kim Jong Un said it is important to boost the “warm climate of reconciliation” after meeting with the delegation that returned to the North after visiting the South for the Winter Olympics, the North’s state media said on Tuesday. Kim Jong Un also expressed “satisfaction” over their visit and said efforts made by Seoul to prioritise their visit… Read more »
SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – South Korea signed a free trade agreement with Central America – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama – on Wednesday (Feb 21), becoming the first Asian nation to do so, with hopes of increasing exports of cars, steels and cosmetics. “The agreement between South Korea and Central America will be an… Read more »
The number of employed Australians seeking help for homelessness has jumped by 30% in about three years. The costs of houses have gone up tremendously and this has led to people living in their cars with their families. A recent analysis shows that 20,302 employed Australians sought homelessness support in 2016 and in 2017, well up from 15,931 in 2013 and… Read more »
The 2018 Winter Olympic Games are currently underway, and North Korea has been putting up a very happy front. Whether it be Kim Jong Un’s sister, or the North Korean athletes, it could be assumed that everything is okay in North Korea. Journalists Garry Kasparov and Thor Halvorssen beg to differ- they say that the North Korean presence Winter Olympics… Read more »
An opposition senator in the Philippines said the death toll in the government’s war on drugs has now surpassed 20,000 since President Rodrigo Dutertecame to office in 2016. In a speech before the Philippine Senate on Wednesday, Antonio Trillanes said the Duterte administration’s own report shows 3,967 “drug personalities” have been killed after allegedly resisting arrest during police operations between July 1, 2016 and… Read more »
The Indonesian authorities said a boat carrying a record 1.6 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine that it had intercepted near the Riau Islands on Tuesday was falsely flying the Singapore flag. It was the second drug-loaded vessel caught this month by Indonesia to be falsely flying a Singapore flag. Tuesday’s capture took place at 2am near Helen Mar Reef, in the… Read more »
DHAKA/BHASAN CHAR/COX’S BAZAR, BANGLADESH (REUTERS) – Bangladesh is racing to turn an uninhabited and muddy Bay of Bengal island into home for 100,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar, amid conflicting signals from top Bangladeshi officials about whether the refugees would end up being stranded there. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Monday that putting… Read more »
Garry Kasparov is chairman of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation. Thor Halvorssen is its president and CEO. If you’ve been following coverage of the Winter Olympic Games on major international news outlets such as CNN, BBC and ABC, you might think that Kim Jong Un’s sister is kind and charming, that North Korean athletes are happy and liberated, or that Pyongyang… Read more »
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s deputy prime minister on Tuesday said Kuala Lumpur was in talks with Thailand over the fate of 11 Uighur Muslims held in the country after escaping from a Songkhla detention centre last year. Reuters reported this month that Malaysia had detained 11 ethnic Uighurs from China – among a group of 20 who escaped from Thailand in… Read more »
While Mr. Pence met with North Korean defectors and condemned Mr. Kim for human rights abuses, officials said Ms. Trump would keep her focus on reaffirming the bonds between the United States and South Korea and cheering on American athletes. “Their talent, drive, grit and spirit embodies American excellence,” she said in a statement on Wednesday. On Friday evening, Ms…. Read more »