At the end of last year, Yoshihide Suga went from being Shinzo Abe’s right hand man to Japan’s new prime minister. How is Suga coping as leader of the world’s third largest economy during a world pandemic—with the Tokyo Olympics right around the corner?
During these tough times of the pandemic, the LGBTQ+ community in Indonesia has provided a lot of help and support to the people. But have the people and the government shown much support or acceptance towards the LGBTQ+ community in turn?
The Democratic Republic of Korea is a relatively obscure country that little reveals itself to the external world. Despite that, the international community yet succeeds in finding comedy in the imaginative ideology and in the extravagant laws regulating the country, often disregarding the incredible survivability of a regime that has been withstanding for over 70 years. A question thus needs to be begged: where does lay the success of the Kim dynasty and their dictatorial state?
President Donald Trump’s approach to North Korea, and especially its leader Kim Jong Un, has been revolutionary. During Trump’s four-year presidency, US-North Korea relations have seen unprecedented ups and downs in what can best be described as a diplomatic roller coaster ride. We have witnessed escalating tensions during an intense war of words and two never-before-seen summits. Meanwhile, Trump and Kim’s relationship has gone from “rocket man” to “fall in love”. Even though Trump’s North Korea policy has been ground-breaking, we might just be back where we started this ride.
Torn by spiking suicide rates and ever-increasing gender tensions, Korean society is facing deep-seated challenges. For many years, the Democratic Party of Korea has pledged to repair the social fabric and stand on women's side. But evidence would suggest otherwise.
Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak kept claiming his innocence for several years. He had not stolen any money, and the allegations against him were just ”vile” and ”malicious”. But in July this year the final verdict was made, Razak was found guilty and he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
What started as a silly game among exchange students revealed a political and social issue in the city of Beijing. Since 2003 “dangerous” dog breeds and those reaching a height of more than 35 centimeters are banned from the capital’s inner districts. Interestingly, it took the city’s authorities 10 years until the law was strictly enforced. Since then regulations got more stringent. The article sums up the events and aims to incorporate the issue into the broader historical background of dog keeping in China.
At the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress, in may this year, a preliminary decision to create and improve the legal framework and enforcement mechanism for protecting national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was submitted for deliberation.
Few certainties, many unknowns. Over 40 years have passed since the first abduction, but little has been accomplished. As abductees’ families inexorably age, prospects for a settlement remain grim.
