Kim Jong-un likely to grab key titles in April
North Korea will convene a rare conference of its ruling Workers’ Party in April, its state media said Monday, during which analysts expect the Stalinist state will cement the power of its new leader, Kim Jong-un. The announcement by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) of the conference, the fourth of its kind, comes […]
More Assets for Assembly v More Debts for Public
Korean lawmakers have 2.9 billion won (approx. 2.6 million USD) on average Every two out of three Members of the National Assembly of Korea have increased wealth over the past three years and especially nineteen (6.7%) of them have increased twofold. AsiaN investigated asset changes of 266 Members (except by-election winners) as of 17 February […]
Mr Ban Ki-moon, Show Your Strong Leadership
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlined a series of actions he believes the global community must take over the next five years to build “the future we want”. Mr Ban presented five imperatives and they are sustainable development, preventing and mitigating conflicts, human rights abuses and the impacts of natural disasters, building a safer and more […]
Russia to suspend children adoption by U.S. citizens
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday signaled that Moscow may temporarily suspend adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens following a series of mistreatment allegedly committed by American adoptive parents. In a statement posted on its website, the ministry listed a string of cases about U.S. adoptive parents’ abuses of Russian children, saying that it […]
Maldives assure safety for tourists
Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed (2nd, R Front) gestures during a rally in Male, the capital of Maldive, on Feb. 11, 2012. (Xinhua/Che Hongliang) Ending a week of political turmoil, the Maldives Saturday invited tourists to its world’s top luxury resort destinations assuring complete safety and protection, according to a senior official. Maldivian president Mohamed […]
Aung San Suu Kyi campaigns for parliamentary by-elections
Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar ‘s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), on Saturday started parliamentary by-election campaign in her constituency. Suu Kyi is to contest in Kawhmu township in Yangon region as a candidate of her party with Dr. U Soe Min, candidate of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), […]
Can judges tweet?
Controversy over judges and social networking in South Korea Judge Seo Ki-ho of the Seoul Northern District Court aroused controversy when he posted disapproving words about President Lee Myung-bak on his social networking site. The Supreme Court’s personnel committee assessed him as “unfit” and made the final decision not to reappoint him. This sparked a […]
China targeting poverty reduction by family planning
China will further promote family planning policies in a bid to steady birth rates and alleviate poverty in its less affluent counties, according to a new plan on poverty reduction. Under to the plan, China aims to keep population growth rates within 0.8 percent in key poverty-relief counties by 2015, a move that it hopes […]
Children’s Theater Festival kicks off in Nepal
The third Children’s Theater Festival kicked off in Nepali capital Kathmandu on Friday, with Russian Writer Anton Checkov’s famous story Vanka adopted as a play in the inauguration. The week-long theater festival was organized by Nepal’s Shailee Theater with the support of Russian Culture Center Nepal. It aims to advocate child rights and help in […]
25 dead, 175 wounded in Syria’s Aleppo blast
At least 25 people were killed and another 175 wounded in Friday’s twin bombings that targeted security and law-enforcement forces’ bases in Syria’s northern Aleppo city, according to the health ministry. Xinhua’s correspondent in Damascus reported initial information showed that at least 19 government troops were among the dead, including 11 security agents died in […]