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East Asia
Korea: Jeju massacre victims get their names cleared in court
The Jeju District Court overturned military court rulings that imprisoned Jeju Islanders in a bloody ideological conflict from 1948 to 1954, Thursday, clearing the names of the 18 surviving plaintiffs and recognizing them as wronged victims of the Jeju April 3 Uprising and Massacre. The ruling panel said the national…
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East Asia
Sound and Fury: Does Abe’s Constitutional Revision Really Matter?
Much attention has been paid recently to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s desire to revise the country’s constitution in what would be the first and only change since it was adopted in 1947. The focus especially has been on his intent to change Article 9, which prohibits the country from…
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South East Asia
Challenging Duterte: Maria Ressa and the Philippine Media
With her sharp mind, unflinching attitude and acerbic humor, journalist and businesswoman Maria Ressa has built a news brand in the Philippines that is at the center of a struggle for the future of free expression in that country. Not one to back down from a fight, Ressa is just…
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East Asia
Why Tokyo and New Delhi Are Reaching Out to Beijing and Vice Versa
The volatility of US President Donald Trump’s administration has thrown many a government across the world into a tizzy. With Washington blowing hot one day and cold the next, foreign-policy mandarins in various world capitals have been burning the proverbial midnight oil, trying to develop strategies to deal with the…
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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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South Asia
Pakistan: War against four ills
Prime Minister Imran Khan said in his New Year message that 2019 would be the year of the beginning of Pakistan’s golden era and pledged to wage “jihad” [war] against the “four ills of our country — poverty, illiteracy, injustice and corruption”. Felicitating the nation on the New Year, Prime…
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South East Asia
Duterte optimism of 2019
Pres. Rodrigo Duterte expressed that 2019 will be a better year for the Philippines, as he encouraged Filipinos to “learn from the past” so that the nation can move forward confidently. He made this message as the Office released his official statement to media last Jan. 1, 2019. Duterte…
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