Friday, November 29
Poland's prime minister revealed that the South Korean loan to finance arms deals does not exist, although the government still plans to continue with the purchases. There was a misunderstanding, and it turned out that there was no Korean loan. Warsaw had signed arms deals with South Korea as part of its military buildup in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The new government will review defense contracts, but intends to honor those that have been signed.
South Korea sanctions head of North Korea's intelligence agency, Ri Chang Ho, for involvement in illicit cyber activities. Ri heads Reconnaissance General Bureau, parent organization for North Korean hacking groups Kimsuky, Lazarus, Andariel. Seoul has previously sanctioned these groups. Ri's activities generate revenue for North Korean regime and fund nuclear and missile activities. South Korea has now blacklisted a total of 83 individuals and 53 entities related to Pyongyang's weapons programs. According to Seoul, Tokyo and Washington, Pyongyang stole as much as $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency last year alone.
An Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank left six people dead and several others wounded early Wednesday, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. "Six martyrs killed by the occupation (Israel) and some who were seriously wounded were transported to the Thabet Thabet government hospital in Tulkarem," the ministry said in a short statement. The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the operation.
Japan's nuclear power regulator lifted an operational ban it imposed on Tokyo Electric Power's massive Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant two years ago, clearing the path for it to resume a process towards a restart. Tepco has been eager to bring the world's largest atomic power plant back online to slash operating costs, but a resumption still needs local consent in Niigata prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast. With capacity of 8,212 megawatts (MW), the plant has been offline since around 2011.
Donald Trump Jr strongly opposes Indian-American Nikki Haley as his father's potential vice presidential candidate, criticizing her as a proponent of endless wars and a puppet of the Washington establishment. He dismisses her as the establishment's preferred candidate, despite her rise in GOP primary polls. While Trump Jr and others object to Haley, Lara Trump has not ruled out the possibility of a Trump-Haley ticket. Vivek Ramaswamy has said that he is not a "Plan B person", rejecting outright the idea or speculation of his joining the Trump cabinet in any official capacity
China's Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday expressed its "heartfelt thanks" to the organisations, enterprises and business people of Taiwan for their aid after the recent earthquake in China. The Taiwanese donations to the quake relief work mean both sides are "families" across the Taiwan Strait, said Chen Binhua, a spokesperson at the Taiwan Affairs Office, at a regular news conference. Earlier this month, northwest China was struck by a magnitude-6.2 earthquake that destroyed over 200,000 homes and killed more than 100 people.
Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif, who has served three terms, will seek a fourth term in office as the consensus candidate of his party in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Sharif returned to Pakistan after four years of self-exile in London to avoid prison, but his conviction was overturned, making him eligible to run. His main rival, Imran Khan, plans to contest the elections despite currently serving a prison term. Sharif's party confirmed his candidacy for the office of prime minister.
Taiwan's presidential candidates clashed over future trade agreements with China. The Kuomintang's (KMT) candidate prioritized negotiating trade agreements with China, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) argued against it. The KMT candidate would negotiate advancements to the Economic Cooperation Framework Pact (ECFA), while the DPP believed it would harm Taiwan's democracy. The KMT candidate criticized the DPP for compromising the interests of farmers and fishermen, and expressed intentions to negotiate on petrochemical products. The DPP accused the KMT of neglecting the impact on Taiwan and manipulating economic interests for election purposes.
