Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov meets Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, invites him to Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Thursday, the Russian foreign ministry said, and invited him to visit Russia.
Lavrov visited the secretive state ahead of a possible landmark summit between US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader in June.
Russia has appeared to be on the fringes of a flurry of international diplomacy as North Korea and the United States have taken steps to set up talks aimed at ending years of tension over…

Singapore and Malaysia cooperate to retrieve embezzled 1MDB funds

A Malaysian task force investigating a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB is working with counterparts in neighbouring Singapore to retrieve funds believed to have been misappropriated, it said on Thursday.
At least six countries, including the United States and Switzerland, are investigating claims that US$4.5 billion was siphoned out of the fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, founded by former prime minister Najib Razak.
Malaysia’s 1MDB task force, which met nine Singapore…

North Korean general arrives in New York to speak to Mike Pompeo ahead of possible Trump-Kim summit in Singapore

A high-ranking North Korean official arrived in New York on Wednesday after flying in from Beijing to hold talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as both sides accelerate the pace of preparations for a possible summit between their leaders.
Kim Yong-chol – a vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea who has the rank of general – is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the United States in almost two decades. His arrival at…

Mahathir plans Malaysian island on Middle Rocks near Singapore

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s latest set of sweeping policy reforms announced on Wednesday has put neighbouring Singapore in the spotlight, as the recently elected leader confirmed the cancellation of a highly anticipated high-speed rail project between the two countries and revealed a surprise plan to build an island near the city state’s territorial waters.
Mahathir told a press conference about plans to “enlarge” Middle Rocks, a rocky outcrop in the…

Myanmar continues ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims, US says

Ethnic cleansing targeting Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar has not stopped despite growing condemnation from the international community, the Trump administration said Tuesday.
In November, the United States declared that violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine state constituted ethnic cleansing, and the US later imposed sanctions. Ambassador Sam Brownback, the US envoy for global religious freedom, said that the violence was continuing.
After ‘frenzy of sexual violence…

Passengers suffer broken bones and head wounds after ‘bomb joke’ on Lion Air flight in Indonesia causes chaos

At least 10 passengers on a flight preparing to take off from Borneo island were injured, most of them with broken bones and head wounds, after panicked ensued when a man claimed there was a bomb on board, Indonesian police said Tuesday.
Passengers overheard the 26-year-old man, Frantinus Nirigi, telling a flight attendant there was a bomb on the Lion Air Boeing 737, which was to carry 189 passengers to Jakarta on Monday night, said West Kalimantan police spokesman Nanang Purnomo. An eventual…

As the Trump-Kim summit approaches, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is the man in the precarious middle

In the tug of war between the United States and North Korea over the tentative summit in Singapore, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is the man in the precarious middle, trying to broker a high-stakes meeting between two unconventional leaders.
Moon’s role as a mediator came into sharp focus in the past week, after US President Donald Trump cancelled the summit in a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Moon may join Trump and Kim in North Korean summit
As Kim sought to reopen…