Galloping through forest atop a white horse, Kim Jong-un stars in a new North Korean propaganda video that touts his economic leadership but ignores a recent spate of sanctions-busting missile launches. Pyongyang started the year by conducting a record seven weapons tests, including firing its most powerful missile since 2017, raising fears Kim could restart long-range or nuclear testing. But the government-produced documentary released this week highlights Kim's struggle to right the country'

　BRUSSELS -- The European Union on Monday condemned the Myanmar ruling junta‘s jailing of ousted leader Aug San Suu Kyi as “politically motivated” and a “blatant violation of human rights”. 　In a statement from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on behalf of the 27 member states, the EU said Suu Kyi’s sentence “represents another step towards the dismantling of the rule of law." 　Suu Kyi, 76, has been detained since the generals staged a coup a

ROME -- Climate change and the relaunch of the global economy will top the G20 agenda as leaders of the world's most advanced nations meet Saturday, the first in-person gathering since the pandemic. Looming over the two-day talks in Rome is pressure to make headway on tackling global warming, ahead of the key COP26 summit kicking off in Glasgow Monday. The stakes are high, with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warning G20 leaders Friday to show "more ambition and more ac

VATICAN (AFP) -- Pope Francis on Sunday called on the global community to resolve the Libyan migrant crisis, even as EU leaders disagree on how to best manage flows of migrants crossing to Europe. "I express my closeness to the thousands of migrants, refugees and also others in need of protection in Libya. I don't forget you ever. I hear your cry and pray for you," Francis said following his traditional Sunday Angelus prayer on Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican. "So many of t

BERLIN (AFP) -- Germany's interior minister said Sunday it was "legitimate" to protect borders, after several EU states asked Brussels to pay for barriers to prevent illegal migrants from entering the bloc. The call came earlier this month, as Poland proposed building a 350 million-euro ($410 million) wall on its border with Belarus to keep migrants out. The EU accuses the Belarusian authorities of flying migrants from the Middle East and Africa to Minsk and then sending them into

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) -- The UN said Friday it feared an even greater human rights catastrophe in Myanmar amid reports of thousands of troops massing in the north of the Southeast Asian country, which has been in chaos since a February coup. “We should all be prepared, as the people in this part of Myanmar are prepared, for even more mass atrocity crimes. I desperately hope that I am wrong,” said UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Tom Andrews. More than 1,100 civilians

ROME (AFP) - Italy will require all workers to show a coronavirus health pass from Friday, one of the world‘s toughest anti-Covid regimes that has already sparked riots and which many fear will cause “chaos”. 　More than 85 percent of Italians over the age of 12 have received at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, making them eligible for the so-called Green Pass certificate. 　But according to various estimates, about 2.5 million of the country’s 23 million workers

WASHINGTON (AFP) - After debt loads surged last year amid the pandemic, governments now must take care to “calibrate” spending, the IMF said Wednesday. 　Global debt in 2020, including public and private borrowing, “jumped by 14 percent to a record high $226 trillion,” according to the International Monetary Fund‘s Fiscal Monitor report. 　Public debt amounts to $88 trillion, close to 100 percent of GDP, and is expected to decline only gradually, said Vitor Gaspar

STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- US-Japanese scientist Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann of Germany and Giorgio Parisi of Italy on Tuesday won the Nobel Physics Prize for climate models and the understanding of physical systems, the jury said. The announcement came a month ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, where global warming will top the world agenda. Manabe, 90, and Hasselmann, 89, share one half of the 10-million-kronor ($1.1-million, one-million-euro) prize for their research on climate mode

TURIN (AFP) -- Tesla boss Elon Musk on Friday said that a global semiconductor shortage hitting car firms especially hard would be overcome soon. The chip drought is "short term, I think," the billionaire said in an appearance by video at Italian Tech Week in Turin. "There are a lot of chip fabrication plants that are being built," Musk told the audience of startups, investment funds and tech entrepreneurs. "I think we will have good capacity for providing chips by ne

KABUL (AFP) -- Residents of a Hazara-dominated farming community in central Afghanistan say they have been ordered out of their homes by Taliban fighters doing the bidding of Pashtun landlords who want to seize their crops and stores. Mohammad Mohaqeq, a Hazara political leader exiled since the Taliban takeover last month, raised the alarm earlier this week in a letter published on social media. He said more than 800 families had been ordered out of their homes in a remote district straddling

BEIJING (AFP) -- China's central bank on Friday said all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies are illegal, sounding the death knell for the digital trade in China after a crackdown on the volatile currencies. The global values of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin have massively fluctuated over the past year partly due to Chinese regulations, which have sought to prevent speculation and money laundering. "Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial acti

VIENNA (AFP) -- Iran and the UN nuclear agency said Sunday they have agreed to allow inspectors to service the agency‘s surveillance equipment as Tehran has restricted access since earlier this year. “IAEA’s inspectors are permitted to service the identified equipment and replace their storage media which will be kept under the joint IAEA and (Iran‘s) AEOI seals in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The way and the timing are agreed by the two sides,” they said in a j

KABUL (AFP) -- Afghan women will be allowed to attend university as long as they study separately from men, the Taliban‘s new higher education minister said Sunday. Women’s rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, though since returning to power last month the hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule. But speaking to reporters about the new regime’s plans for the country‘s education, Minister

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Hong Kong police on Thursday raided a museum that houses exhibits commemorating Beijing‘s deadly crackdown on Tiananmen Square in 1989, a day after they arrested four members of the group that ran the venue. The raid came as police accused one of the four arrestees -- prominent barrister Chow Hang-tung, vice-chairwoman of the group -- of inciting subversion, according to Chow’s lawyers and relatives. Officers from the newly created national security unit w