On April 2, North Korea unveiled the long awaited successor to its Hwasong-12 “Guam Killer” intermediate range ballistic missile. The test launch of the Hwasong-16B followed years of reports on the testing of associated technologies facilitating a generational leap in performance. With an estimated range of 4,000-5,000 kilometers, North Korea’s intermediate range missiles – beginning … Read more
As Myanmar grapples with ongoing political turmoil, recent directives have exacerbated the challenges faced by its citizens. The enforcement of conscription laws and the imposition of new taxation and remittance regulations have intensified pressures on the people of Myanmar, and will potentially drive more toward irregular migration. This article delves into the far-reaching consequences of … Read more
“My children go to school just for the sake of it,” said Saodat, a 42-year-old mother of three from Tashkent who prefers to go by her first name only. “We paid for private tutoring for four years before my eldest could enroll at a university. My second child is in the same situation – besides … Read more
Donald Trump’s trial begins Jury selection began yesterday in New York City, where Donald Trump faces charges that he falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal while serving as president. It is the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president, and the first of four indictments that Trump faces in the coming … Read more
Recently, there have been several cybersecurity policy announcements relevant to outer space. The European Space Agency (ESA) came out with a policy document, ESA Security for Space: Shaping the Future, Protecting the Present, in November 2023. This was brought with the goal of “protect[ing] ESA critical space infrastructure.” In December 2023, the U.S. National Aeronautics … Read more
Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai’s latest visit to South Korea at the beginning of April shed light on Ulaanbaatar and Seoul’s growing economic and cultural cooperation. Oyun-Erdene’s visit envisaged several economic initiatives Seoul could participate in, ranging from collaboration between large corporations to increasing tourism and promoting the Korean creative industry to enter Mongolia. Mongolia … Read more
The recently released “The State of Southeast Asia 2024 Survey Report,” published by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, has garnered significant attention due to its noteworthy findings. One of the key highlights of the survey is China’s ascendancy over the United States as Southeast Asia’s preferred alignment choice amid the ongoing China-U.S. rivalry. However, a closer … Read more
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Monday that he will step down on May 15 after two decades at the helm, and hand power to his deputy Lawrence Wong. Lee, 72, will formally advise the city-state’s president to appoint Wong, who is currently deputy prime minister and finance minister, to succeed him, his office … Read more
For two years Chinese authorities secretly detained the newborn baby, her siblings, and their parents. Their whereabouts and wellbeing remained unknown to family members or lawyers until word began to trickle out in July 2022: the baby and her sister, then 6 years old, had been kept in a psychiatric hospital since October 2020. Their … Read more
Ushio Amagatsu, an acclaimed dancer and choreographer who brought worldwide visibility to Butoh, a hauntingly minimalist Japanese form of dance theater that arose in the wake of wartime devastation, died on March 25 in Odawara, Japan. He was 74. The cause of his death, in a hospital, was heart failure, said Semimaru, a founding member … Read more