Author: Press Room

SEOUL: South Korea on Thursday (Dec 8) passed laws to scrap its traditional method of counting ages and adopt the international standard – a shift which will make its citizens either one or two years younger on official documents. Koreans are deemed to be a year old when born and a year is added every Jan 1. This is the age most commonly cited in everyday life. A separate system also exists for conscription purposes or calculating the legal age to drink alcohol and smoke, in which a person’s age is calculated from zero at birth and a year is…

Olaf Scholz has certainly taken on Angela Merkel’s mantle of “crisis chancellor” if his first year in office is anything to go by.War broke out on European soil just two months into his time in office, and the ongoing discourse about how much military and financial support the European Union should supply to Ukraine often circles around the bloc’s largest economy.Germany’s decades-long heavy energy dependence on Russia was broadly exposed and denounced, and Scholz’s rush to find alternatives to Russian gas led to tensions between the coalition parties of the fledgling German government and forced them to partially backtrack on…

Peter Dutton has called on the government to stop treating the public like “mugs” and provide more information about the Voice to Parliament.The Opposition have been critical over the lack of detail about the body since Labor’s election victory six months.While the Liberals have not yet formally announced a stance on the matter, the Coalition’s junior party, The Nationals, announced its opposition.Stream more on politics with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2023In an interview on Thursday, Mr Dutton called on the Prime Minister to show respect to…

Some reached out to Nao Engineering, which has been selling its Crisis-1 shelters since December 2021, but saw a surge in inquiries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Even after more than 70 years, memories persist in Japan of intense bombing during World War II, including the only atomic detonations in combat. And the nuclear spectre revived recently, after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to use “all means” in his nation’s defence. In Asia, concerns persist that China could try to seize the self-governed island of Taiwan, which it claims as its own. The year’s most active threat to…

Ukraine claims Russia put rocket launchers at nuclear power plantA view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside the city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, November 24, 2022.Alexander Ermochenko | ReutersRussian forces have installed multiple rocket launchers at Ukraine’s shut-down Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials claimed, raising fears Europe’s largest atomic power station could be used as a base to fire on Ukrainian territory and heightening radiation dangers.Ukraine’s nuclear company Energoatom said in a statement that Russian forces occupying the plant have placed several Grad multiple rocket launchers near one…

SINGAPORE: Businesses in Singapore are feeling the impact of South Korea’s nationwide truckers’ strike, which has led to supply chain disruptions.  Thousands of cargo truck drivers in South Korea have been on strike for more than two weeks over a lack of progress on wage demands, with talks between workers and the government reaching a stalemate so far. The strike has already disrupted supply chains and cost the country about 3.5 trillion won (US$2.6 billion) in lost shipments. It has also reduced shipments of petrochemicals overseas to about 5 per cent of normal levels. Some Singapore businesses have reported lengthy…

Zhang Lan, a food delivery driver, said he needed to be tested because “it’s a request from the company” to avoid contaminating customers. At a nearby shopping centre, businesses were open but crowds were sparse, with guards checking visitors’ health codes though no longer requiring negative COVID-19 tests. “VERY QUIET” “It’s very quiet. I think people are still afraid to go out,” the manager of a Starbucks said. China is now steeling for a wave of infections expected to follow the relaxation of the rules – with one previous estimate suggesting more than a million people could die. At one…

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is visiting Saudi Arabia this week for the first time in nearly seven years, during which he signed a comprehensive strategic partnership with the world’s largest oil exporter and met leaders from across the Middle East. The visit is a sign that China and the Gulf region are deepening their economic relations at a time when US-Saudi ties have crumbled over OPEC’s decision to slash crude oil supply. As Xi wrote in an article published in Saudi media, the trip was intended to strengthen China’s relations with the Arab world. The partnership agreement signed by the…

CNN  —  American democracy – and the evolving way in which it is executed – is facing a series of fundamental questions beyond former President Donald Trump’s election denialism. The former president’s call to end the Constitution for a 2020 election redo has rightly been met with ridicule and eyerolls (although less condemnation from GOP leaders). But even with Trump still a top contender for a major party’s presidential nomination, there are plenty of other forces circulating with the potential to destabilize American democracy. The so-called “independent state legislature” theory, for example, got its day before the nation’s highest court…

John Lennon, songwriting genius and founding member of The Beatles — a man who gifted the world with beautiful music that still rouses the human spirit long after his death — was murdered in New York City on this day in history, Dec. 8, 1980. He was 40 years old. “An unspeakable tragedy,” legendary sports host Howard Cosell blurted in shock to the nation near midnight, interrupting the dramatic final seconds of a Monday Night Football broadcast. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, DEC. 7, 1941, PEARL HARBOR ATTACK KILLS 2,403 AMERICANS, LAUNCHES US INTO WWII”John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the…