SOUTH KOREA
North rail survey to start
North and South Korea are to begin a joint survey on reconnecting railways across their border this week, the Ministry of Unification said yesterday. Linking up the railway systems was one of the agreements made earlier this year between the two countries. A South Korean train is to depart from Seoul early tomorrow and cross the border on a 18-day joint mission to examine the North’s rail system. It would be the first time since 2007 a train from the South is to enter North Korea. The train is to have 28 South Korean passengers on board — mostly officials and experts — as well as 55,000 liters of fuel and other unspecified materials. “The actual construction will be pursued according to progress in North Korea’s denuclearization,” the ministry said.
FRANCE
Le Pen ordered to repay
An EU court yesterday rejected a bid by far-right leader Marine Le Pen to halt the repayment of parliamentary expenses she used to pay a bodyguard. Le Pen is under investigation for allegedly using European Parliament expenses to pay party political staff. In one such case, she is alleged to have wrongly used EU parliamentary funds to pay a bodyguard, Thierry Legier, more than 41,000 euros (US$46,256).
INDIA
Election to test sentiment
Millions voted yesterday in a state election seen as a key duel between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his main rival before the entire country goes to the polls next year. Modi’s right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has governed the central state of Madhya Pradesh since 2003, having won three state elections in a row. However, polls suggest that the opposition Congress headed by Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty, could win on the back of concerns about rising unemployment and by appealing to disgruntled farmers. The party has campaigned aggressively against three-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on issues of corruption and misgovernance. Chouhan has nevertheless sounded confident. The vote is one of five state elections this month and next that are a litmus test of Modi’s popularity ahead of general elections that have to take place before May, but for which no date has yet been announced. Results from all the state elections are due on Dec. 11. A defeat in the state would be a major setback for the party and dent Modi’s winning image.
UNITED STATES
Jeremic backs Patrick Ho
Former UN General Assembly president Vuk Jeremic on Tuesday said that he never witnessed “anything improper” on the part of prominent Hong Kong businessman Patrick Ho Chi-ping (何志平), on trial in New York City on charges of bribing government leaders in two African nations to land lucrative business deals for a Chinese oil and gas conglomerate. Jeremic reported to Ho when he worked as a consultant for CEFC China Energy. Jeremic told a federal jury that he connected Ho to high-ranking officials in several countries and opened diplomatic doors for CEFC as it expanded its business around the globe. However, in an interview following his hours-long testimony, Jeremic said he never had concerns about Ho’s dealings. Jeremic, who leads the opposition party in Serbia, said he has been “vilified” in his home country over his involvement in Ho’s proceedings. “It’s been portrayed as if I were on trial,” he said. “It was very important for me to clear Serbia’s name.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese