On Wednesday, Pyongyang announced that their Korean-American prisoner Kenneth Bae or known as Pae Jun Ho in North Korea, has begun his stay at a special prison. North Korea sentenced Bae 15 years of hard labour for committing acts of political aggression against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Bae was arrested last month at Rason City, northeast of North Korea.

The official North Korean state-run news agency KCNA said that Bae “is now starting his life at a special prison on Tuesday, but no details were given about the place he is staying in.

The United States, which still has great tensions against North Korea, had asked for the country to surrender Bae and grant amnesty. However, the North Korean government has not given any type of response. Dennis Rodman, who visited North Korea and Kim Jong Un on February, plead to get Bae home, but his efforts also had no effect.

North Korea says that Kenneth Bae is not a “political bargaining chip” wherein the country released several Americans they have captured after a few visits from the former American presidents. North Korea only says that Bae is not guaranteed any humanitarian generosity if the United States continues their hostile policy against North Korea.

North Korea’s sanctions began with its nuclear weapons development programs. In March and April, the United States and North Korea clashed once again as North Korea made threats against the United Nations and the United States.

Source: CNN

Recently, news and media reported that the small nation of Cyprus, under the Euro Zone, is currently facing financial difficulties and have spread through headlines all over the world. However, experts say that it would be wise to avoid panic and implying anything negative without knowing the overall Cyprus situation.

Christopher Pissarides, an economics and political science professor at the London School of Economics, says that Cyprus has a manageable fiscal deficit and still has a low debt. Its economy is capable because of its financial services and tourism economy. It also has a good resource depot for its rich gas and oil near its southern coasts.

Cypriot banks suffered greatly in 2011 when Greece cut out some of its private bond dealers and these banks took great losses that were sufficient. The Cypriot banks needed refinancing, which brought the country to ask for a bailout in 2012.

However, EU’s bailout plans sparked the ire of Cypriot banks and Cyprus’ Russian business partners. The country may have raised €5.8 billion to prevent increasing debt, but a bank levy of over 100,000 euros in banks and a smaller percentage on deposits of more than 20,000 left Cypriots panicking about their money.

The policies, while they continue to help Europe, are estimated by Christopher Pissarides to backfire against Europe sooner or later.

North Korea recently announced that the Korean Armistice Agreement between it and South Korea is about to be scrapped. This brought the world and the UN’s attention to them; implying new sanctions are on the way. Experts say that China, who have profoundly defended the reckless country from greater UN and US sanctions, may finally be striking against its ally.

China has defended Pyongyang from great western sanctions because of its weapons testing with rocket launches, nuclear missile tests, reckless attempts of attack and statements against the United States, and even for the kidnapping of Chinese anglers. However, China defended North Korea “irregularly” for its thrashing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, and even signed for the sanctions against North Korea.

Analysts say that China’s new direction may indicate that it had “had enough” of North Korea’s indifference and erratic behaviour. However, they say that China would still prefer having a stable “status quo”, given that if North Korea actually collapses, US-allied South Korea would probably unify Korea and become a powerful US-allied entity in Southeast Asia.

The details of the new sanctions are still kept confidential, yet Susan Rice, US Ambassador to the US, says that these new sanctions would “bite hard” against North Korea.

China’s official UN ambassador said that China is only acting for the best interests of safeguarding and ensuring the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula.

Source: CNN

The sandy hook shooting, which killed 26 people including educators and children aged 5-6 from an armed man’s assault on the school, left the United States and its citizens shocked from the attack. Today, the school resumes classes in a nearby refurbished school in the town of Monroe, with officials planning the first day of school to be an “ordinary school day” for most of the students.

School officials and parents of the children will be driving with school buses going to the middle school in Monroe. The Chalk Hill Middle School had been closed since a year and a half and was refurbished and reconstructed within three weeks since December 14. It was renamed to Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The refurbished building now has a new and much effective security system. Monroe Police Department officers will be patrolling the grounds and all hallways and areas of the school are monitored via surveillance cameras and microphones. Officials plan to make the school the “safest school that America has”, as said by Lieutenant Keith White at a press conference Wednesday.

Still parents who are worried are allowed by the school to accompany their children. Children in kindergarten to grade 4 can be accompanied and parents can stay in the school for as long as they like.

Adam Lanza, the gunman of the Sandy Hook shooting, still leaves officials puzzled about his intentions in attacking a school. He was initially diagnosed having Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism. He had earlier killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, before attacking the school. He committed suicide as the police entered the school

Source: Yahoo News

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ new research findings indicate that half of women sent to Iraq and Afghanistan report that they were sexually harassed by male officers and the ratio of one to four were sexually assaulted. The new study that is based on anonymous surveys of female servicemen deployed to war indicate the unceasing number of female sexual assaults against women in war zones.

In February this year, around 20,000 women serving in Afghanistan reported sexual harassment. VA’s PTSD Center deputy director Amy Street stated that the findings show the traumatic strains beyond combat of troops both male and female.

Representative Jackie Speier, who pushed to investigate the cases more promptly, says that women have no safe spots during wartime because the military culture of male dominance has not changed even with the new rules and regulations by secretaries and generals. The sexism has not been scrubbed out of the military. Even with new reforms, the military cannot completely erase this particular culture.

Military academy reports show that from 65 in 2011, numbers of sexual misconduct by instructors have increased by 80 in 2012. Cases of sexual assault by instructors in Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and a brigadier General’s trial for sexual misconduct with lower ranking servicewomen have also received the Pentagon’s attention.

Source: USA Today

North Korea’s rally in celebration of its successful rocket launch last Wednesday indicated the nation’s “saving face” in the midst of a similar attempt to put a weather satellite on orbit in April, which failed due to technical failure. The United States, Japan and South Korea condemned the launch, claiming it to be a demonstration of military strength and the capability of North Korea to launch a rocket at its will.

Governments worldwide are growing worried over the technological developments in North Korea, where nuclear technology is clearly developed. The launch clearly defies the 2009 U.N. restriction of missile testing against North Korea in 2006 and 2009, years in which the country launched its prototype nuclear missiles.

The Japanese government states that it shows North Korea’s ability to attack even the most distant Japanese Islands with their new rocket. Anti-North Korean protests in South Korea wer held in city squares, all in defiance of the nuclear research and technological development that North Korea had developed for state superiority.

The rocket’s parts scattered as it went through its stages to bring the satellite to orbit. Parts landed in the Yellow Sea west of the Korean Peninsula and the Pacific Ocean. Japan also said that it flew over Japanese islands during its launch. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, confirmed the satellites placement into orbit.

The launch also coincides with the events that marked the death of Kim Jong Il on Dec 17 and is clearly the most prominent success of of his governing son Kim Jong Un.

Source: Time

Recent News:

Failed Syrian Eid Ceasefire Creates Death Tolls of Over 407

Argentina Wades into Assange Saga

The Violation Documenting Center, a group that makes documentation of all the casualties of the ceasefire between the Syrian government and the rebels, has tallied that at least 407 people were killed during the celebration of Eid holiday up to Wednesday. The total number of death upon the over a year civil war has now reached 32,013.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani stated that the Syrian regime is waging a “ war of extermination” even against Syrian civilians. The Qatar president also blamed the UN for just “idling” while the Syrian government killed hundreds during the four-day ceasefire.

UN-Arab League Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi was the one who proposed the ceasefire for Eid, which started on Friday and ended on Monday. However, it became evident to many Arab countries that the ceasefire was never fully observed. Qatar’s Prime Minister pointed out that Syria did comply with the truce with a special condition, that it would respond to “anything that took place on the ground”.

Brahimi recently met with Chinese and Russian officials to discuss solutions about the Syrian civil war. China has declared its support to Brahimi’s idea of having a political solution to the entire situation. China and Russia are well-known opponents who have vetoed more than once stronger actions proposed by the UN Security Council.

Source: CNN