NORTH KOREA
China stresses friendliness
China’s special envoy Song Tao (宋濤) stressed his nation’s stance to steadily develop “traditional friendly relations” during talks with one of the most senior officials in the Workers’ Party of Korea, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. Song on Friday briefed Vice Marshall Choe Ryong-hae on developments and details from China’s 19th National Party Congress last month in their talks in Pyongyang, the agency said. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported there was a good chance that Song would meet leader Kim Jong-un today, citing unidentified diplomats in Beijing. China has not officially provided any details of Song’s visit or his meetings with North Korean officials.
ARGENTINA
Submarine loses contact
The navy on Friday said it has lost contact with a submarine carrying 44 crew members off the southern coast and has mounted an extensive search. The navy said that ships and aircraft were searching near the last known location of the ARA San Juan, a German-built diesel-electric vessel, which had not been heard from since Wednesday. It said it was scanning all possible radio transmission frequencies for a sign of the sub. Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters that it is possible that the submarine had an electrical issue and said it could not yet be termed lost.
UNITED STATES
Chinese veteran died in fire
A 101-year-old man who last month told his wife to flee deadly wildfires in northern California without him is the latest victim to be identified by coroner’s officials. The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa on Friday reported that authorities identified the man as longtime Santa Rosa resident Hung Tak-fu. He was one of at least 43 people killed by the fires that raged across a huge swath of wine country. Born in China’s Anhui Province in 1915, Hung was a general in the Chinese army before he fled to Hong Kong and later Taiwan after the Chinese Communist Party came to power following the 1949 revolution. He worked as a civil engineer in Taiwan, where he and his first wife raised six children before her death. After he retired, he moved to California.
UNITED STATES
Navy jet draws penis in air
A navy air crew on Friday was grounded after using their advanced fighter jet to draw a giant image of a penis in the sky with the exhaust, officials said. The incident took place on Thursday in the skies over Okanogan County in Washington state, when a E/A-18 Growler warplane flew the unusual pattern. Images of a condensed air trail in the shape of a penis immediately went viral on social media. The navy, which is trying to crack down on sexual assault in its ranks, issued a formal apology for what it called an “irresponsible and immature act.”
UNITED STATES
Military reports assault stats
Troops have reported more than 20,000 allegations of sexual assault at military installations over the past four years, the Pentagon said in a report on Friday. The Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office report details allegations by service branch for the fiscal years 2013 to last year, with the army — the largest branch — reporting 8,294 cases total. The navy reported 4,788 cases, the marine corps 3,400 and the air force 8,876. Since 2012, the Pentagon’s annual reports have reported drops in the numbers of sexual assault among the force, officials said
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS