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East Asia
Singapore: an upbeat new year’s message
Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered an upbeat new year’s message. On the political front a younger team is in place to take over the leadership after Lee who plans to step down in 2021. Poised to be the next prime minister is current finance minister Heng Swee Keat.…
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East Asia
Fine dust ups risk of lung cancer by 20%
Airborne fine dust can greatly increase the chance of developing lung cancer, according to a South Korean medical team. The team analyzed the correlation between fine dust and the development of respiratory diseases and concluded that long-term exposure increases the risk of lung cancer by up to 20 percent. It also increases…
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East Asia
97% of Koreans suffer ‘physical or mental’ distress due to fine dust: survey
Almost all Koreans are suffering from physical or mental distress due to airborne ultrafine dust that has blanketed the nation for days, a survey showed on Tuesday. In an online survey of 731 adults by recruiting website Incruit, 97 percent of them have found it difficult to live in the contaminated air…
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East Asia
A Difficult Year for Iran
2019 would be a very difficult and of course crucial year for the president Hassan Rouhani. The New Year in Iran is celebrated on March 21 with the onset of spring from ancient and pre-Islamic time. Many Christians are now living in Iran and due to the respect Muslims have…
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East Asia
Cambodia PM: The country is not dead if no EBA of EU
The Cambodia Prime Minister has strongly affirmed that his nation would still survive although the European Union suspends their Every But Not Arms (EBA), the tax-free access trade agreement, to the EU markets from his nation. The tax and duty free exports from Cambodia to the EU market is worth some…
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East Asia
S. Korea: economic cooperation with North Korea will be blessing
Economic cooperation with North Korea will provide a boost to the South Korean economy, President Moon Jae-in said Thursday. “If we restart economic cooperation with North Korea, this will bring vitality to our economy,” Moon said during a New Year’s press conference at Cheong Wa Dae. “Inter-Korean economic projects are…
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Politics
Has Singapore Led to Real Gains on the North Korean Nuclear Question?
The warm feelings of the Singapore summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in June have given way to the chill of December and the reality of a coming winter. In October and November, North Korea’s state-run news agency, KCNA, published a series of commentaries warning that North…
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East Asia
Introduction: Summitry in Asia
2018 in Asia could well be called The Year of the Summit, with the most dramatic centered on the Korean Peninsula: Kim Jong Un’s meetings with Xi Jinping, Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump. Casting our gaze more broadly, of course, we find that both bilateral and multilateral summitry is by…
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East Asia
[Seoul] Euljiro’s last stand: Redevelopment rips through historic manufacturing hub
60-year-old Euljiro industrial district being torn down to make way for high-rise apartments For seven weeks, Lee Bae-woong, 75, and his son have been trying to salvage what they could from their 38-year-old hardware store in Euljiro, downtown Seoul. With excavators due in a week, they were running out of…
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East Asia
Seoul to build K-pop arena by 2024
A K-pop performance hall will be built in northern Seoul by 2024 to attract more foreign tourists, the city government said Wednesday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government unveiled its plan to establish a cultural complex near Changdong Station on subway Line No. 1 in Dobong-gu, the 18,400-seat Seoul Arena as its…
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