Sep 20, 2017   World

[Graphic News] Military balance in Northeast Asia

Sep 20, 2017   World News

More than 200 killed in Mexico quake

MEXICO CITY -- Police, firefighters and ordinary Mexicans dug frantically through the rubble of collapsed schools, homes and apartment buildings early Wednesday, looking for survivors of Mexico’s deadliest earthquake in decades as the number of confirmed fatalities climbed to 248.Adding poignancy and a touch of the surreal, Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 quake struck on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake that killed thousands. Just hours earlier, people around Mexico had held earthquake drills

Sep 20, 2017   World

Trump bluntly threatens to wipe out NK in UN debut

President Donald Trump bluntly threatened North Korea with annihilation if it menaces the US or its allies and delivered a provocative argument to leaders of the world that they should embrace nationalism even when confronting collective threats.In his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump at times cast aside conventions of political and diplomatic dialogue in favor of the aggressive dialect of social media. He vowed to crush “the loser terrorists” in the Mideast and pinned

Sep 20, 2017   World

7.1 magnitude quake kills 139 as buildings crumble in Mexico

MEXICO CITY - A magnitude 7.1 earthquake stunned central Mexico on Tuesday, killing at least 139 people as buildings collapsed in plumes of dust. Thousands fled into the streets in panic, and many stayed to help rescue those trapped.Dozens of buildings tumbled into mounds of rubble or were severely damaged in densely populated parts of Mexico City and nearby states. Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said buildings fell at 44 places in the capital alone as high-rises across the city swayed sickeningly.

Sep 19, 2017   World News

Spain expels North Korean ambassador over nuclear tests

MADRID (AP) -- Spain says it is expelling the ambassador of North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear tests and missile launches over Japan.The Foreign Ministry said in a tweet that Ambassador Kim Hyok Chol had been called in and informed he was persona non-grata and would have to leave by the end of the month.Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis told reporters Monday in New York that Spain had warned the ambassador there would be consequences if the country continued with the tests, which he sa

Sep 19, 2017   World News

Norway wealth fund hits ‘milestone’ $1 trillion value

OSLO (AFP) - Norway‘s sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, on Tuesday reached the value of $1 trillion dollars for the first time, the Norwegian central bank, which manages the fund, said. This amount equals nearly $189,000 (157,000 euros) for each of the 5.3 million people living in Norway.Established in the 1990s to manage the Norwegian state’s oil revenues, the fund set the record thanks to the appreciation of the world‘s major currencies against the dollar and a good stock market

Sep 19, 2017   World News

Russia unveils statue of AK-47 inventor Kalashnikov

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian officials and Orthodox priests on Tuesday unveiled a statue in Moscow of inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov, whose iconic AK-47 assault rifle has claimed countless lives worldwide.A priest sprinkled holy water on the seven-metre tall statue of Kalashnikov gripping his deadly creation, which will now loom over motorists from a traffic island in one of the sprawling capital‘s central thoroughfares. Culture minister Vladimir Medinsky praised the inventor and called the rifle -- whi

Sep 19, 2017   World News

Suu Kyi rebuffs foreign criticism of Rohingya crisis

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (AFP) - Aung San Suu Kyi said Tuesday she does not fear global scrutiny over the Rohingya crisis, pledging to hold rights violators to account but refusing to blame the military for violence that has driven some 421,000 of the Muslim minority out of her country.In an address timed to pre-empt likely censure of Myanmar at the UN General Assembly in New York -- delivered entirely in English and aimed squarely at an international audience -- she called for patience and understand

Sep 19, 2017   World News

‘The man who saved the world’ dies in Russia

MOSCOW (AFP) - Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet military officer who is widely credited with helping prevent a nuclear war with the United States, has died aged 77, his son told AFP on Tuesday. Petrov, whose extraordinary story was told in a documentary titled “The Man Who Saved the World”, received several international awards, was honoured at the United Nations and met Hollywood superstars such as Robert De Niro and Matt Damon.Yet Petrov lived in a small town outside Moscow and died in relative obsc

Sep 19, 2017   World

[Graphic News] Global hunger rises for first time in decade

　Hunger is on the increase across the globe once again after a decade of declines, a UN report said.　Most of the world‘s hungry people are in Asia and Africa, with 520 million and 243 million, respectively. But proportionally Africa is hardest hit, with 20 percent of people not having enough food -- in Asia the ratio is 11.7 percent, according to the report.　Overall, the number of chronically hungry people rose to 815 million, or 11 percent of the world's population, in 2016. The figure represen

Sep 18, 2017   World

[Graphic News] China has the top longest land border in Asia

　Many countries with land borders in Asia have long remained peaceful, others remain tense. Five Asian countries have no land border with other countries. 　In a world of connected societies, border demarcation has been essential. When countries share a border, territorial disputes arise over tracts of land or water that are claimed by different independent countries.　China, the most populous nation on the planet, has 16 unique land neighbors, with 22,147 kilometers of land borders. It has border

Sep 17, 2017   World News

British police make second arrest over London train attack

British police said Sunday they had made a second arrest over the bombing of a London Underground train, as their probe into the terror attack widened.The 21-year-old man, who has not been named, was detained late Saturday in Hounslow, on the western rim of the capital, a police statement said. (Yonhap)Officers had earlier arrested an 18-year-old man over Friday's attack at Parsons Green station, which injured 30 people, and said they were hunting for more suspects.Home Secretary Amber Rudd said

Sep 17, 2017   World

[Graphic News] Korea spending on families among lowest of OECD countries

　According to an OECD report, Korea was one of the smallest investors in families among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2013. The country allocated 1.13 percent of its gross domestic product to family benefits spending, ranking No. 32 among 35 OECD member states surveyed.　The family benefits cited by the report consist of public money allocated to enhance family units, including financial support exclusively for members of households and children, ac

Sep 16, 2017   World News

Jury: Wisconsin girl mentally ill in stabbing of classmate

A Wisconsin girl who admitted to participating in the stabbing of a classmate to please horror character Slender Man will avoid prison after a jury determined that she was mentally ill at the time of the attack. Anissa Weier trembled as the jury's verdict late Friday was read after a week of testimony and some 11 hours of deliberations. She wasn't available afterward, but her attorney said Weier was relieved and cried following the verdict. "I'm very thankful to the jurors for taking the time to