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East Asia
[Asia Round-up] Japan inflation rate hits 23-year high Jump
Consumer prices in Japan rose at their fastest pace in 23 years in April, following an increases in sales tax. Prices rose 3.2% compared with the same period last year, beating analysts’ forecasts of a 3.1% jump. The government raised its sales tax rate from 5% to 8% on 1…
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West Asia
[Asia Round-up] Saudi Arabia’s desire to hold talks with Iran
Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal made an important announcement Tuesday when he said that he invited his Iranian counterpart and that he is ready to negotiate with him. This announcement signaled a change in Saudi Arabia’s policy toward Iran and came during US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s…
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West Asia
Syrian children and women refugees: Easy targets, hard future
With more than one million refugees in Lebanon alone, Syrian families who fled to escape the war in their country are facing another one. It is a war with different weapons that sometimes look worse and bitter. Some will find it an easier escape to scarify their own lives, as…
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East Asia
[Asia Round-up] Hong Kong holds world’s largest ivory burn
When Hong Kong announced the start of the world’s largest ivory destruction project, one would expect a massive pyre, with flames engulfing the tusks. Instead, the tusk fragments were crushed into small chunks, placed in fiber drums and incinerated at a temperature over 1,800 degree Fahrenheit at a waste treatment…
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East Asia
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Pakistan’s response to sinking of South Korean ferry
The tragic incident of the capsized of the South Korean ferry Sewol, carrying 476 passengers, mostly students, on April 16, received wide coverage in Pakistan’s print and electronic media. It was really shocking news for the entire Pakistani nation, who kept on watching TV channels for the updates. They could…
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East Asia
How foreigners in Korea view the Sewol-ho Ferry tragedy
People all over the world were both shocked and saddened as they looked upon the Sewol-ho Ferry tragedy in Jindo on April 16. Magazine N was curious about what foreigners living in Korea for some time thought about this accident. Hence, Magazine N interviewed a few foreigners living in Korea…
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West Asia
[Asia Round-up] Qatar to end sponsorship system for expat workers
Qatar, host of the 2022 football World Cup, said yesterday it will abolish its controversial sponsorship system for foreign workers, whose treatment in the energy-rich state has stirred mounting international criticism. FIFA chief Sepp Blatter described the move as a “significant step,” but Amnesty International said it lacked substance and…
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South Asia
Absence of maritime boundary between India and Pakistan brings miseries to fishermen of two nations
It has become a tradition on the part of rulers of India and Pakistan to release detained fishermen on certain occasions as a gesture of good will but at the same time their respective security agencies continue arresting the fishermen, seizing their boats and throwing them into prisons to languish…
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East Asia
Today’s polls to serve as confidence vote on Park
President Park Geun-hye and the tragic April 16 Sewol disaster will mostly likely affect the result of the June 4 local elections. In the wake of the ferry sinking that left more than 300 people dead or missing, the elections are regarded as a mid-term test for the sitting government…
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