North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un is a pariah within the international community for the often brutal nature of his rule and his no-holds-barred approach to any dissent. The infamous leader succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011, and has since bent the nation to his will.
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On September 15, North Korea successfully launched ballistic missiles off their east coast. In doing so, they violated various United Nations resolutions. According to Al Jazeera, the missiles traveled for over two hours before they reached their target 930 miles away. During their journey, the missiles demonstrated agility by circling around into different paths.
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that he will not seek reelection after serving in office for almost exactly a year, reports The New York Times. The decision came after numerous attempts to try to salvage an administration that has become highly unpopular.
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Climate change and nuclear weapons, two existential threats to humanity, work to exacerbate each other’s detrimental effects. Though the two topics may seem distantly related at first glance, they share many connections.
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The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is on track to release over a million tons of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean as part of its cleanup efforts. The first release is anticipated to begin in 2023, with the total process expecting to last over a decade. The move comes as water continues to accumulate, despite the plant being decommissioned following a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Read MoreAn eight-car passenger train in Eastern Taiwan derailed on April 3, killing at least 50, including the train driver and a French citizen, and injuring hundreds. The Taitung-bound train was north of Hualien when it derailed in a tunnel, which caused further damage as the cars collided with the tunnel walls, reports CNN. Authorities confirmed they removed all the passengers from the wreckage, although some of the dead have yet to be identified.
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Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw and BBC journalist Aung Thura, among other media personnel, were released recently from detention in Myanmar. Their release comes after mounting pressure from the international community to release all journalists and cease the media crackdown. Since the February 1 coup that saw the overthrow of its democratically-elected government, a military government controls Myanmar which has cracked down on independent press coverage of protests resisting the new government, ABC News reports.
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A crowd of diplomats gathered outside a court in the northern Chinese city of Dandong to protest the trials of two Canadian citizens accused of espionage by the Chinese government.
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In March 2019, toward the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, South Korea became one of the first countries outside of China to face the COVID-19 pandemic. The country adopted a liberal yet effective way to flatten the infection curve, ultimately enabling the country to host their parliamentary elections on April 15 as scheduled. The results were staggering.
Read MoreBrazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Governor of São Paulo João Doria clashed over the implementation of a mandatory coronavirus vaccination of the São Paulo region. Joao Doria is in favor of making CoronaVac, a COVID-19 immunization, mandatory alongside other non-coronavirus vaccines as Brazil requires. Sinovac is a China-based biopharmaceutical company developing the CoronaVac and would conduct phase three trials on the São Paulo citizens, which is favored by Governor Doria, according to the South China Morning Post.
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