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The recent fall of Bashar Assad’s “murderous regime” in Syria was celebrated with Churchillian bombast by Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the House of Commons: “The Lion of Damascus” was now “the rat of Damascus, fleeing to Moscow with its tail between its legs.” “Assad is a dictator,’ thundered Lammy, “He is a criminal. He used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. He has the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands.” The ghosts of British imperialists past looked down on the foreign secretary approvingly — yet the U.K. had played no part in the downfall of the dictator. In 2013, it might have been a different story. At that time, Lammy voted against bombing Assad’s stockpiles of chemical weapons, in line with Labour policy dictated by its former leader, Ed Miliband, now his colleague as energy secretary. When Tory party rebels joined the opposition, David Cameron’s government was left powerless to intervene. Source link

Seoul – A cheerful song by one of the most successful K-pop girl groups has emerged as a protest anthem for thousands of South Koreans rallying for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal from office. “There’s a rough road ahead of us,” sang the demonstrators in unison, gathered daily outside parliament since earlier this month, when Yoon briefly imposed martial law, only to reverse the decision after facing pressure from lawmakers. Ahead of what was ultimately a decisive vote to impeach the embattled president on Saturday, protesters chanted mocking rhymes and sang K-pop in their daily demonstrations, with one song serving as a clarion call for his removal — Girls’ Generation’s “Into the New World.” Source link

London – Revelations that a suspected Chinese spy became a confidant of Britain’s Prince Andrew have renewed scrutiny of King Charles III’s disgraced brother as he heaps new embarrassment on the royal family. The late Queen Elizabeth II’s second, and reportedly favorite, son featured on the front pages of U.K. newspapers for a third straight day Sunday over his links to the unnamed Chinese businessman. It is the latest humiliation for the 64-year-old whose reputation is already in tatters after settling a U.S. sexual assault case and his friendship with accused child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Source link

Niigata – The Indian-born head of one of Japan’s most famous snack brands has warned that the country must change its mindset and admit more immigrants to get the economy back to the glory of its boom years. Politicians have struggled for years to recover from the so-called lost decades as a range of differing programs have failed to kickstart growth, including an ultraloose monetary policy and trillions of dollars in stimulus measures. And as the new government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba eyes a fresh drive to bring back the heyday of its global tech domination, Lekh Juneja, the head of rice cracker giant Kameda Seika, said he worries his adopted country has lost its edge. Source link

Seoul – South Korea’s opposition leader urged a top court on Sunday to swiftly formalize the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol and ease the “suffering of the people” after his short-lived martial law decree. Lawmakers voted on Saturday to remove Yoon from office over his “insurrectionary” suspension of civilian rule, which plunged South Korea into some of its worst political turmoil in years. Yoon has been suspended while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo serving as interim leader. Source link

SYDNEY – Australia’s government said on Sunday that five members of the “Bali Nine” drug ring have returned from Indonesia, after diplomatic efforts between the countries this month to strike a repatriation deal. “The Australian Government can confirm that Australian citizens, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj have returned to Australia,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement. The men were among nine people arrested in 2005 trying to smuggle more than 8 kg (17.64 lb) of heroin out of the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Source link

Suzhou, China – Dominant in the electric car sector, Chinese companies have been quietly consolidating their position in the lesser-watched trucking scene — but foreign tariffs and a perceived quality gap could signal roadblocks ahead, experts warn. The domestic supply chain and low-price strategy that helped make China’s EV car industry world-leading are being leveraged by established automakers and start-ups alike, aiming to similarly transform trucking. Electric trucks currently represent less than 1% of truck sales worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) — with China making up 70% of those sales in 2023. Source link

Recent events reveal India’s success in securing concessions from China. Ending a four-year hiatus, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi resumed a structured dialogue at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October — after having held only unscheduled interactions since the 2020 Galwan Valley incident in which the Chinese and Indian armies clashed over the disputed border that divides them. This seems to have been an opportune moment for the Chinese leadership to disengage its forces from territorial friction points and for India to resume border patrols, with both returning to pre-Galwan Valley incident positions. Source link

Los Angeles – A dominating performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo on Saturday led the Milwaukee Bucks into the NBA Cup final, where they will face Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder for the title. Greek star Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to push the Bucks past the Atlanta Hawks 110-102 while Canadian guard Gilgeous-Alexander netted a game-high 32 points to lead the Thunder over Houston 111-96 in the semifinals in Las Vegas. The Bucks and Thunder will meet for the crown on Tuesday in Las Vegas. Source link

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed to “never give up” after the opposition-led parliament succeeded in a second attempt to impeach him over his brief declaration of martial law earlier this month, putting at least a temporary pause on the political chaos enveloping Asia’s fourth-largest economy. All 300 lawmakers from the country’s National Assembly participated in Saturday’s vote, with 204 supporting the removal of the president for committing “insurrectionary acts” and “abandoning the duty to protect the constitution.” A total of 85 voted against the motion, while three abstained and eight ballots were deemed invalid. The impeachment vote was the second attempt after a bid that failed a week ago following a boycott of the vote by Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP). The party decided shortly before the proceedings that it would take part in the vote, but without changing its stance of opposing impeachment. Source link