VLADIVOSTOK, April 24 -- The cortege of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived on Russky Island in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, as source in the Far Eastern Federal University said. The source familiar with the visit’s preparations said that Kim’s residence would be the university’s building S, known as a sports complex, where the talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to be held. The train arrived at the station at 17:50 local time (7:50 a.m. GMT). Primorye Governor Oleg Kozhemyako, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora welcomed Kim upon his arrival. A military orchestra of the guard of honor greeted Kim at the station square. On April 25, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sides will discuss peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and ensuring security in Northeast Asia. Kim and Putin will also discuss different aspects of bilateral relations, including on the political, economic and cultural-humanitarian agenda. Talks in Vladivostok will be the first meeting between Kim and Putin. Russia will be the first country, which Kim visits after being re-elected Chairman of the State Affairs Commission at the first session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly earlier this month.
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BRUSSELS, April 24 -- The European Parliament voted last week to interconnect a series of border-control, migration, and law enforcement systems into a gigantic, biometrics-tracking, searchable database of EU and non-EU citizens. This new database will be known as the Common Identity Repository (CIR) and is set to unify records on over 350 million people. Per its design, CIR will aggregate both identity records (names, dates of birth, passport numbers, and other identification details) and biometrics (fingerprints and facial scans), and make its data available to all border and law enforcement authorities. It's primary role will be to simplify the jobs of EU border and law enforcement officers who will be able to search a unified system much faster, rather than search through separate databases individually. "The systems covered by the new rules would include the Schengen Information System, Eurodac, the Visa Information System (VIS) and three new systems: the European Criminal Records System for Third Country Nationals (ECRIS-TCN), the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS)," EU officials said last week. CIR passed through the European Parliament last Monday, April 15, in two separate votes. The CIR rules for borders and visa checks were adopted by 511 to 123, and nine abstentions, while the CIR legislation for police and judicial cooperation, asylum and migration was approved 510 to 130, and nine abstentions. The European Parliament and the European Council promised "proper safeguards" to protect people's right to privacy and regulate officers' access to data. Ever since plans to create this shared biometrics database have been made public last year, privacy advocates have criticized the EU, calling CIR's creation as the "point of no return" in creating "a Big Brother centralised EU state database." Once up and running, CIR will become one of the biggest people-tracking databases in the world, right behind the systems used by the Chinese government and India's Aadhar system. In the US, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations run similar biometrics databases. The database's existence can be easily justified by the necessity to give law enforcement better tools for tracking migrants and criminals; however, there's always the fear that the system will slowly be expanded to include and track people that are not the subject of any criminal investigations, such as tourist traveling across the EU space. HONG KONG, April 24 -- Four of the nine democracy leaders found guilty over Hong Kong’s 2014 Occupy protests were jailed for up to 16 months on Wednesday for their roles in the biggest civil disobedience movement in the city’s history. Two founders, academics Benny Tai Yiu-ting, 54, and Dr Chan Kin-man, 60, received the longest jail terms, at 16 months. Imprisoned for eight months were legislator Shiu Ka-chun, 49, and League of Social Democrats vice-chairman Raphael Wong Ho-ming, 30. Because of poor health and his years of contribution to society, Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, 75, the third founder, had a 16-month sentence suspended for two years. Former lawmaker Lee Wing-tat, 63, also had his eight-month term suspended for two years in light of his years of service. Former student leaders Tommy Cheung Sau-yin, 25, and Eason Chung Yiu-wa, 26, were sentenced to 200 hours of community service and eight months’ jail respectively, but Chung also had his prison term suspended. Their ages were taken into consideration. All were sentenced by Judge Johnny Chan Jong-herng at West Kowloon Court. The judge criticised the nine for putting their political demands before the lives of “ordinary folks”. Lawmaker Tanya Chan, 47, had her sentencing adjourned after it was revealed she was suffering from a life-threatening condition and would have to undergo brain surgery in two weeks. The group were convicted of a string of public nuisance charges earlier this month over the 79-day civil disobedience movement, which brought the city’s commercial district to a standstill in the name of greater democracy for Hong Kong.The judge noted the protests had been non-violent, with a goal not motivated by “greed, lust, anger, or monetary reward”. Nonetheless, he said, the obstruction was a serious one that lasted for an extensive amount of time. COLOMBO, April 24 -- The death toll in a series of terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka has risen to 359 people, the Ada Derana news portal reported on Wednesday citing the police. Earlier reports said 321 people died in the Easter Sunday attacks. On April 21 Sri Lanka was hit by the worst series of terrorist attacks in its history. A total of eight explosions rocked the cities of Colombo, Negambo and Batticaloa. Perpetrators targeted Catholic churches and hotels. MOSCOW, April 24 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said that he is happy to visit Russia when he arrived to the Hasan station, the administration of the Primorsky region said on Wednesday. "I am happy to visit Russia," Kim said. Russian Minister for the Far East and the Arctic Alexander Kozlov, who met the North Korean leader in Hasan, expressed hope that this visit will stay with Kim "as a heartwarming memory." "Kim Jong Un said that this is not his last visit to Russia. He said that this is only the first step," the administration said. In Hasan, Kim Jong Un was met by Russian Minister for the Far East and the Arctic Alexander Kozlov, Primorsky region Governor Oleg Kozhemyako, Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora. The North Korean leader visited the House of Russian-Korean Friendship, also known as "The House of Kim Il Sung." After leaving the Hasan station, the train headed toward Ussuriysk. The train will reach the city in about seven hours. Then the train will get onto the Trans-Siberian Railway leading to Vladivostok. LONDON, April 23 -- The European elections are shaping up to be a colourful affair with both the Brexit Party and pro-EU Change UK revealing a spate of new candidates this morning. Along with Jacob Rees-Mogg’s sister Annunziata, libertarian Claire Fox will stand for Nigel Farage’s party. Meanwhile on the Remain side, a member of a political dynasty has decided to try and win election as an MP for Change UK. Step forward Rachel Johnson. Johnson is to follow in the footsteps of her father Stanley and brothers Boris and Jo by entering the political arena. The writer has revealed she will stand as a European election candidate in the South West region for Change UK, set up by the Independent Group MPs. Explaining her decision to the Evening Standard, Johnson said: ‘A vote to leave the EU is so important, so life-changing for the next two generations that I am impelled to stand up and be counted for what I believe in, which is that we are far better in Europe.’ Mr S wonders whether Johnson will have better luck than the last time she joined a political party. In 2017, Johnson announced that she was joining the Liberal Democrats in protest at the Conservative party’s Brexit stance. However, that endorsement failed to provide the party with much in the way of a poll boost. Will Johnson’s latest foray into politics lead to change? A total of 54 staff from two private companies were buried under a mound of mining waste along with 40 machines and vehicles, Tin Soe, a local politician told the Reuters news agency. They won’t survive. It is not possible because they are buried under mud,” Tin Soe told Reuters by phone. "It is very difficult to retrieve the bodies." "Three dead bodies have been recovered from the mud," Kyaw Swa Aung, the township's administrator told the Anadolu news agency, adding that a search and rescue operation was ongoing. At least 20 people have been killed so far this year in collapses and landslides at mining sites, according to the Hpakant Township office.
Centre of Jade mining Most of the victims were identified as internal migrant workers who scavenge jade or pieces of the precious stones left over from company mining operations. Hpakant area is the centre of the country’s jade mining industry and produces some of the best-quality jade in the world. According to environmental advocacy group Global Witness, jade production in Myanmar was worth around $31bn in 2014. The country's lucrative jade industry is dominated by companies and businessmen linked to leaders of the previous military government. QINGDAO, April 23 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a multinational parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the country’s navy with a call for nations not to threaten to use force against each other. Nearly 20 warships from about a dozen countries – including Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Japan – are taking part in the parade with 32 Chinese vessels led by China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in the Yellow Sea off eastern China’s Shandong province. Addressing foreign naval officers in the port city of Qingdao on Tuesday, Xi urged maritime forces around the world to work together to promote dialogue and maintain peace at sea. “Nations should use consultations to resolve matters, and should not easily resort to force or threats of force,” said Xi, who will inspect the vessels in the parade. “Nations should consult on an equal basis, improve crisis management mechanisms, step up regional security cooperation and push for proper settlement of maritime disputes.” The parade is taking place as China is locked in maritime disputes with many of its neighbours, particularly those in Southeast Asia with competing claims over the South China Sea. “The world is facing more challenges, and no country is able to deal with all the threats alone,” Vice-Admiral Shen Jinlong, the commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, said on Monday night. “The Chinese navy is willing to work with its foreign counterparts to cope with maritime security problems and challenges.” Shen said 61 countries sent naval delegates to this year’s celebration, compared with 29 a decade ago for the PLA Navy’s 60th anniversary. KIEV, April 22 -- The presidential elections in Ukraine on Sunday resulted in a landslide victory for Volodomyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old lawyer and comedian who in very short time established a new party and defeated the incumbent president since 2014, Petro Poroshenko, by 73 % against 25 % of the votes. Total voter turn-out was 62 %, well above the 42 % turnout in the presidential elections in North Macedonia the day before. The EU developed close relations to Poroshenko but seems to have got tired of his stalling of necessary anti-corruption reforms and was quick in congratulating Zelensky to his victory. In an unusually warm letter (22 April), presidents Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker expressed their “appreciation of Ukraine’s strong attachment to democracy and the rule of law throughout the electoral process”. While significant progress has been made in Ukraine since Ukraine’s “Revolution of Dignity” in 2014, much remains to be accomplished, according to their letter. Despite his inexperience of politics, and avoiding questions from journalists during the election campaign, Zelensky was seen as untainted by corruption and supported by the majority of Ukrainians who wanted change and voted in protest against Poroshenko. Zelensky became popular when playing the president in a TV series by name “Servant of the people”, the same name as his party. His victory is the more amazing as he von the elections despite preferring speaking Russian over Ukrainian and being of Jewish origin in a country with an anti-semitic past. In their letter, Tusk and Juncker assured Zelensky that he, as president of Ukraine, can count on EU’s support and invited him to a meeting at the earliest possible date. Zelensky will be facing huge challenges such as solving the ongoing conflict with separatists supported by Russia in its eastern Donbass region, where 13 000 people have been killed, and ramping corruption despite EU-inspired anti-corruption measures (32 points on Transparency International´s corruption index). Still he is optimistic about leading Ukraine towards EU and NATO membership in the coming years. ROTTERDAM, April 23 -- Electric vehicles in Germany account for more CO2 emissions than diesel ones, according to a study by German scientists. When CO2 emissions linked to the production of batteries and the German energy mix - in which coal still plays an important role - are taken into consideration, electric vehicles emit 11% to 28% more than their diesel counterparts, according to the study, presented on Wednesday at the Ifo Institute in Munich. Mining and processing the lithium, cobalt and manganese used for batteries consume a great deal of energy. A Tesla Model 3 battery, for example, represents between 11 and 15 tonnes of CO2. Given a lifetime of 10 years and an annual travel distance of 15,000 kilometres, this translates into 73 to 98 grams of CO2 per kilometre, scientists Christoph Buchal, Hans-Dieter Karl and Hans-Werner Sinn noted in their study. The CO2 given off to produce the electricity that powers such vehicles also needs to be factored in, they say. When all these factors are considered, each Tesla emits 156 to 180 grams of CO2 per kilometre, which is more than a comparable diesel vehicle produced by the German company Mercedes, for example. The German researchers therefore take issue with the fact that European officials view electric vehicles as zero-emission ones. They note further that the EU target of 59 grams of CO2 per km by 2030 corresponds to a “technically unrealistic” consumption of 2.2 litres of diesel or 2.6 litres of gas per 100 kms. These new limits pressure German and other European car manufacturers into switching massively to electric vehicles whereas, the researchers feel, it would have been preferable to opt for methane engines, “whose emissions are one-third less than those of diesel motors.” PARIS, April 22 -- The massive, self-organised social movement known as the Yellow Vests held its second nationwide “Assembly of Assemblies” earlier this month. Hundreds of activist groups from all over France each chose two delegates – one woman, one man – to gather in the port city of St. Nazaire. Local Yellow Vests hosted 700 delegates at the St. Nazaire “House of the People.” The three-day series of meetings and working groups went off without a hitch in an atmosphere of good-fellowship. A sign on the wall proclaimed, “No one has the solution, but everybody has a piece of it.” Their project – mobilise their “collective intelligence” to reorganise, strategise, and prolong their struggle. Their aim – achieve the immediate goals of liveable wages and retirements, restoration of social benefits and public services. Tax the rich and end fiscal fraud to pay for preserving the environment. And, most ambitious of all, reinvent democracy in the process. Their Declaration ends with the phrase, “Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” I often wonder if they know who coined it. Yellow and Green Unite and Fight Particular attention was paid to the issue of the environment, reaffirming the popular slogan, “End of the week. End of the world. Same logic, same struggle.” It rhymes in French. The Assembly called on people to “take up a conflictual stance against the present system in order to create, together, a new ecological, popular social movement”. This shows growth from the original Yellow Vest uprising, which began as a protest against a hike in taxes on diesel fuel imposed in the name of “saving the environment.” Less well known is that only 17 percent of that tax was earmarked for the environment. In any case, French president Emmanuel Macron rescinded it in an early attempt to pacify the movement. Since then, the Yellow Vests have tentatively converged with environmental groups. Many poor and working class Yellow Vests can’t help seeing them as bourgeois on bicycles unwilling to struggle directly against the establishment. So their call for unity is also a challenge to the environmental movement – “Join us in the struggle for social equality and be ready to fight the whole system.” Brilliant! Who said an unstructured autonomous movement of ordinary, not well-educated people, could not come up with strategies and tactics? “No one has the solution, but everybody has a piece of it.” This was the basis of direct democracy in Athens, from which the Yellow Vests have also borrowed the idea of choosing representatives by lot. Autonomy The Assembly of Assemblies reaffirmed the Yellow Vest founding principle of keeping clear of political parties. Also of leaders. To my mind this is genius. Every popular mass movement I have participated in over the past 60 years has been co-opted by the establishment or crushed. Leaders set up an office, try to raise money and gain access to power, end up compromising. They treat rank and file activists like a mailing list and the power and dynamic of the mass movement melts away. Instinctively, the Yellow Vests seem to have assimilated the profound criticism of representative democracy that goes back to the 18th century and was applied during the 1871 Paris Commune. There delegates were given limited mandates, subject to instant recall, regularly rotated, and paid at workers’ wages. The Communards also called on other cities to rise and link up as a federation. This is the Yellow Vests’ modus operandi. Europe This critique of representation explains the Assembly’s attitude toward upcoming elections for the European Parliament. Fear of being manipulated for political purposes is strong. Last month Yellow Vests at a Paris demonstration recognised a Yellow Vest who had just declared her candidacy, apparently in the name of the Yellow Vests. They were furious and yelled at her until she withdrew, shaken. Ugly, but a necessary example to anyone else who would rather be a politician than a Yellow Vest. The Assembly, far from calling for a Frexit, reached out to social movements in the other countries of the European Union in a call to come together and struggle against its neoliberal policies. The Assembly saw no point in voting in this sham election. As everyone knows, the European Parliament has no power or even visibility. Moreover, it limits the deficit spending of its member countries, thus making it illegal for France to finance the social services and environmental reconstruction people are demanding. COLOMBO, April 22 -- The string of deadly blasts that hit Sri Lanka on April 21 were carried out by at least seven suicide attackers, the Associated Press news agency reported on Monday, citing a Sri Lankan forensic service investigator. According to the agency, the suicide attackers set off the explosions in six hotels and churches. Per latest reports, 24 people were detained on suspicion of being behind the terror attacks. On Sunday, Sri Lanka was rocked by eight blasts that happened almost simultaneously around 08:45 local time. The first explosion went off in the St. Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade in Colombo, the second - in the St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, 30 km north of Colombo, the third bomb was detonated in a church in the town of Batticaloa in the east of the country. Apart from that, around the same time the explosions hit the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels in the Sri Lankan capital. The seventh blast happened in the Colombo zoo, while the eighth bomb exploded in the Dematagoda, a suburb in Colombo. The churches were holding Easter services. According to the latest reports, 290 people died in the bombings. Among those attending the services and staying in the hotels there were a lot of foreigners who had arrived in Sri Lanka as tourists to celebrate Easter in an exotic location. WASHINGTON, April 21 -- The allegations from the US’ intelligence agency are the latest to pile pressure on Huawei in the West. The CIA has told government officials in the UK and elsewhere that Chinese telecoms maker Huawei accepted funds from Chinese military and intelligence agencies, The Times reported on Saturday. The US intelligence agency alleged that Huawei accepted funds from China’s National Security Commission, the People’s Liberation Army and a third branch of the Chinese state intelligence network, the paper said. The allegations were provided to top politicians in the UK and the other ‘Five Eyes’ countries, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, earlier this year, The Times said, citing a UK source. US officials are pressuring allies to ban Huawei products from their 5G networks amidst trade tensions between the US and China, saying the kit could be used for spying. Security To date, only Australia and New Zealand have agreed to an outright ban, with other allies opting to monitor Chinese products to ensure they’re secure. The UK is entering the final stages of a review into the issue. Huawei has always denied its products could be used for spying. A representative of the company said Huawei would not comment on “unsubstantiated allegations backed up by zero evidence from anonymous sources”. The US is reportedly planning to use a summit in Prague next month to push allies to adopt telecoms security approaches that would effectively mean banning Chinese companies. The US government has banned its agencies from using Huawei gear, and top educational institutions have ended deals with Chinese firms to avoid losing federal funding. Your libido fluctuates with your physical and emotional state, and the condition of your relationship. When this happens we often fret about our sexual prowess, but it is perfectly normal, and fixable. This week, we examine the issues surrounding female sexual dysfunction, which are not discussed enough and may be poorly understood, meaning many women feel unprepared and on their own when they experience it. Sexual inhibition or lack of sexual interest in women has many causes – anxiety, depression, stress, physical illness, medication, lack of sleep, relationship issues, age, hormone-based contraceptives, hormonal imbalances, a history of unfulfilling sex, past incidents of shaming about sex. Sexual functioning requires a balance between neurotransmitters and hormones. If there is even the slightest imbalance, a woman’s appetite for sex will drop. Relationship issues such as lingering anger or resentment, lack of communication, or an absence of trust can also lower sexual desire.
“Women in long-term relationships can often experience a loss of desire, as they may crave more eroticism, variety, or spark in their sex lives ... Feeling desired by one’s partner is an important turn-on for many women,” says Dr Kristin Zeising, a clinical psychologist and certified sex therapist at MindnLife, a Hong Kong-based private psychology practice. “A history of feeling shamed for sexual expression can impact desire and cause a woman to be more inhibited. Historically and culturally speaking, female sexuality is often stigmatised ... Other factors include past sexual traumas, religious upbringing, or even unsatisfactory sex, and women feel uncomfortable discussing these issues with their partner for whatever reason,” Zeising adds. Loss of interest in sex is widespread, and affects between 25 per cent and 50 per cent of women, depending on which part of the world they live in, she says. Asian and Middle Eastern women are more likely to experience a lack of sexual desire, and sexual problems such as an inability to reach orgasm, Zeising says. “Women of all ages and cultures can experience a lack of desire at some point in their lives, so it’s quite normal and common. Women aren’t meant to always want sex, in whatever context or situation. In some cases, a woman may not desire sex on a regular basis – or at all – and they are perfectly fine with that. “However, it’s when a woman is feeling like her body has changed, or when their partner desires sex more than they do, that a depleted sexual appetite becomes problematic.” Many middle-aged women are vulnerable to low sexual functioning. They find that, as they age, their hormone levels drop and their bodies may need more stimulation than they previously did. “As oestrogen levels drop, the vaginal tissue thins and dries out, and this can make sex painful enough to put women off the act altogether,” Zeising says. “For many women, the reduction of oestrogen alone explains a nosedive in libido. But other aspects of menopause may also leave them feeling unsexy and not desiring sex, like mood swings, hot flushes, weight gain, and anxiety about ageing.” When that happens, she says, women should talk to a gynaecologist about medication and other solutions to make sex more comfortable. Zeising says feeling positive about ageing and about a partner tends to outweigh the physiological effects of declining hormone levels. Seven steps to stimulate your sex life: ● Schedule sex; create a space to allow sex regularly and build up the anticipation: ● Re-frame how you think about sex to reduce anxiety; ● View sex as a team sport by emphasizing mutual pleasure over performance; ● Tell your partner what you like and what you need from them; ● Give yourself permission to reap pleasure from the act of sex; ● Focus on the emotional pleasure and satisfaction gained from sex with your partner; ● Use your imagination; map out a sexual fantasy to share with your partner. COLOMBO, April 21 -- At least 52 people were killed in Sri Lanka on Sunday, when a string of blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches as worshippers attended Easter services. A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 42 people were killed in Colombo, where three hotels and a church were hit. Another 10 people were confirmed dead in the town of Batticaloa, in the east of the country, where another church was targeted. There were also reports of casualties in a blast at a church north of the capital and the toll was expected to rise. The nature of the blasts was not immediately clear and there were no immediate claims of responsibility. President Maithripala Sirisena in an address said he was shocked by the explosions and appealed for calm. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, writing on his verified Twitter account, said the attacks had killed "many innocent people" and appeared to be a "well-coordinated attempt to create murder, mayhem & anarchy." The first explosions were reported at St Anthony's Shrine, a church in Colombo and St Sebastian's Church in the town of Negombo just outside the capital. Dozens of people injured in the St Anthony's blast flooded into the Colombo National Hospital by mid-morning, "A bomb attack to our church, please come and help if your family members are there," read a post in English on the Facebook page of the St Sebastian's Church at Katuwapitiya in Negombo. Shortly after those blasts were reported, police confirmed three hotels in the capital had also been hit, along with a church in Batticaloa. An official at one of the hotels, the Cinnamon Grand Hotel near the prime minister's official residence in Colombo, said that the blast had ripped through the hotel restaurant. He said at least one person had been killed in the blast. An official at the Batticaloa hospital said more than 300 people had been admitted with injuries following the blast there. "Emergency meeting called in a few minutes. Rescue operations underway," Sri Lanka's Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution, Harsha de Silva, said in a tweet on his verified account. He said he had been to two of the attacked hotels and was at the scene at St Anthony's Shrine and described "horrible scenes." "I saw many body parts strewn all over," he tweeted, adding that there were "many casualties including foreigners." "Please stay calm and indoors," he added. Photos circulating on social media showed the roof of one church had been almost blown off in the blast. The floor was littered with a mixture of roof tiles, splintered wood and blood. Several people could be seen covered in blood, with some trying to help those with more serious injuries. The images could not immediately be verified. Only around six percent of mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka is Catholic, but the religion is seen as a unifying force because it includes people from both the Tamil and majority Sinhalese ethnic groups. |
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