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.”
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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