N Korea developing long-distance drone; Pentagon thinks as alarm

North Korea as it is known as a belligerent nation that defies the mightiest power in the world - the USA, now focuses on developing a long-endurance aerial drone with greater capabilities, South Korean media reports Sunday.

The Yonhap news agency said with advanced means of technologies Pyongyang is aiming to build long-endurance aerial drones to boost its weapons arsenal.

An official source said that the ‘unmanned aerial vehicle’ (UAV) in undergoing flight testing is larger than those currently in service in the North. Last week the North Korea’s Chosun Central TV had announced that the Kim Jong-un regime is set to unveil the latest version of the UAV.

The media outlet did not provide clear images of the actual drone but claimed to have tracking capabilities and the ability to carry out real-time observation. It also said the machine can be used to check the atmosphere, detect forest fires and observe fishing grounds.

South Korea estimates that the North has some 300 observation drones and around 10 that are war in some way armed having capability of conducting attacks with weapons. Past reports have shown that Pyongyang is even building a multipurpose UAV.

According to the International Business Time, without revealing the specifics of the operations Seoul had detected several such drones taking flight in 2016, said the official who did not want to be identified.

According to the RT online, Pyongyang unveiled its attack drone in 2013 on the 60th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War.
South Korean military experts also say that the North may be upgrading drones that it brought in from China and the USSR in the past.

Local military experts also said that based on the information provided, the North may be upgrading drones it initially brought in from China and the Soviet Union in the past by making them bigger, heavier and more useful in terms of range and capabilities.

"The North clearly seems to be interested in building its own UAV to replace the old imported machines and copies of these drones that have crashed in South Korean territory in the past," a Korea Defense and Security Forum source said.

The South Korean military said at the end of November that it is building a device to counter the North’s drones called an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) – a high-powered, directional generator capable of disabling drones.

Meanwhile, Seoul is continuing to develop other anti-drone weapons, including a GPS jamming device and miniature rockets capable of taking down UAVs, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korea has recently urged the military to initiate a new generation of defence systems to tackle North Korean drones. This includes using laser weapons to shoot down inbound aerial vehicles.

North Korea is known to have sent several drones, sometimes beyond its territorial airspace, as part of its activities. In the recent past, the South is believed to have detected incursions from Pyongyang-operated drones on at least five occasions but none of them were shot down.

Several suspected North Korean UAVs have been found in places like Paju, Baengnyeong Island and Samcheok in the past, although Pyongyang has denied ownership of such machines, reports the International Business Time online.

To counter such threats, South Korea is in the process of using concentrated electromagnetic pulse devices to disable and bring the drones down.

U.S. intelligence agencies say Pyongyang will likely conduct a new salvo of missile launches following the latest round of United Nations sanctions against the reclusive communist state, according to the Washington Post online.

The world organization on Dec. 1 imposed additional sanctions that seek to block North Korea’s revenue obtained from exports by 25 percent. The sanctions bar member-states from purchasing North Korean copper, nickel, silver and zinc exports, and the sale of large statues, a favored purchase for African dictators. The sanctions followed a recent North Korean underground nuclear test.

In the past, Pyongyang responded to similar sanctions with provocative missile launches.

The most recent missile test in North Korea was a failed launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile called the Musudan in October with an estimated range of 2,000 miles.

The Pentagon and Japan took this development and capacity as alarm. Officials said the next missile test could be a Musudan launch to counteract the earlier test failure.

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Vaccine against diabetes has been officially announced

Diabetes is an autoimmune disease when there is too much glucose in the blood. Finally the first-ever diabetes vaccine has been officially presented.Salvador C. Ramirez, president of the foundation Vive your Diabetes and Lucila Z. Ortega, the president of the Mexican Association for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases elaborated that the vaccine cannot cure the disease, but it showed significant improvement in all of the cases.

For the first time, we’ve managed to standardize a saline solution for any type of diabetes, whether it is 1, 2, gestational or congenital However, this vaccine is not the cure for diabetes but a solution for the disease progression. It can be used both in children and adults and it does not cause side effects. The vaccine lasts for 60 days and the treatment is about one year. This vaccine is much more than a medicine; it is a medical practice that has turned into an alternative, a possible solution to stop the complications that are chronically degenerative: embolism, loss of ear; amputation, renal insufficiency and blindness.

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Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra occupied by the IS

Islamic State forces took control of Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra once again on Sunday, the second time they have claimed the city in days and more than eight months after the radical militia was ousted by government forces, a monitoring group reported.
Following four days of a wide-scale offensive, IS successfully captured the millennia-old oasis city of Palmyra in the eastern countryside of the central province of Homs, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The jihadis made a lightning-fast advance across the city after overrunning a northern neighborhood and capturing the famed citadel to Palmyra’s west.
The city as well as its airbase, ancient part and citadel fell to IS, said the Observatory.
It added that over 120 Syrian soldiers were killed during the offensive as well as tens of the IS militants.

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Dhaka cafe worker says staff were locked in toilet

Militants locked Holey Artisan Bakery workers in a toilet during the deadly overnight standoff at the cafe in Dhaka, a member of the eatery’s staff, who was among the hostages, has said.

The cafe worker, Imam Hossain Sabuj, said on Saturday that ‘some’ people put 10-15 cafe workers in a small toilet in the night of July 1.

Sabuj couldn’t remember every one of those with him in the toilet that night. His father Abdul Khaleq said he was recovering from a mental breakdown he suffered after surviving the attack in which 22 persons, including 17 foreigners and two policemen, were killed by the militants.

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Only 1.0pc RMG units allow trade unions

RMG units

An official report on the country's ready-made garment industry shows poor compliance with regard to issuance of appointment letters and identity cards to the workers, preserving their service records and granting maternity leave and other lawful benefits to them.

In the absence of appointment letters, service books and ID cards, the workers are deprived of their lawful rights and benefits. Such deprivation took place in the cases of Tazreen fashion and Rana Plaza workers, labour leaders alleged.

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South Korean stocks higher

South Korean shares advanced on Thursday with the biggest gains in electronics and machinery sectors as institutional buying persistently supported the main board. Foreign investors turned net buyers in five sessions, purchasing a net 68.8 billion won ($60 million) worth of KOSPI shares, preliminary data showed. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 1.1 per cent at 2,030.68. The local currency was quoted at 1,147.3 to the dollar at the conclusion of onshore trade, down 0.3 per cent compared with Wednesday's close at 1,143.4, according to Reuters

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Missing Russian jet pilot

A Russian pilot who went missing after his jet was shot down by Turkey while taking part in air strikes over Syria was rescued in a 12-hour operation involving special forces, Russia says.

The pilot is "alive and well" at a Russian air base in Syria, it says.

His co-pilot and a marine involved in a rescue were killed.

Turkey said the jet had strayed into its airspace but Russian President Vladimir Putin says the plane was flying over Syrian territory.

It is not clear what has happened to the body of the other pilot, who was killed by gunfire as he parachuted from his burning plane.

Tensions have escalated between Russia and Turkey over the incident, but the US, the EU and the UN have all appealed for calm.

President Putin has described the downing of the plane as a "stab in the back", and warned of serious consequences.

Turkey's President Recep Erdogan has defended the action, saying "everyone must respect the right of Turkey to protect its borders", but he stressed he did not want to escalate tensions further, according to media reports. 

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Bad loans at Europe's banks still double

The scale of bad loans held by banks in the European Union is "a major concern" and more than double the level in the United States, despite an improvement in recent years, the EU's banking regulator said on Tuesday.

Non-performing loans (NPL) across Europe's major banks averaged 5.6 per cent at the end of June, down from 6.1 per cent at the start of the year. But that compares with an average of less than 3 per cent in the United States and even lower in Asia, according to the European Banking Authority (EBA).

The total of NPLs across Europe is about 1 trillion euros ($US1.1 trillion), equivalent to the size of Spain's annual gross domestic product (GDP) and 7.3 per cent of the EU's GDP.

Tuesday's figures were the first time detailed data on NPLs, defined as a loan that is more than 90 days overdue or where problems are spotted earlier, have been released in Europe. The EBA data covered 105 banks, spanning 20 EU countries and Norway.

Some 16.7 per cent of loans at banks in Italy were designated as NPLs, equivalent to 17.1 per cent of the country's GDP. Spain's banks had an average NPL ratio of 7.1 per cent, or 15.8 per cent of its GDP.

Banks in Cyprus fared even worse, with half of their loans classified as bad, followed by Slovenia (28.4 per cent), Ireland (21.5 per cent) and Hungary (18.9 per cent).

"Although gradually improving, quality of assets remains a major concern in the EU and an impediment to new lending and banks' profitability, particularly in countries already under economic stress," the EBA said.

Banks in Sweden had the lowest level of NPLs at an average of 1.1 per cent, followed by Norway (1.4 per cent), Finland (1.7 per cent), Britain (2.9 per cent), the Netherlands (2.9 per cent) and Germany (3.4 per cent).

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Clock boy' family seeks $15m

Fifteen million dollars and apologies were sought from the mayor and police chief.

That's what an attorney says the family of Ahmed Mohamed is demanding from city and school officials in Irving, Texas, or they say they'll file a civil suit.

In September, 14-year-old Ahmed made international headlines when he brought a handmade clock to school to show his teachers.

One of them thought it was a bomb and notified school authorities, who then called police. Ahmed was detained, questioned and hauled off in handcuffs. At the time, the school said it reacted with caution because the contraption that had wires could have been an explosive device.

It wasn't. It was just a clock.

But despite the surge of support for Ahmed, the attorney representing his family says the teen suffered severe psychological trauma and that his "reputation in the global community is permanently scarred."

In two letters sent Monday to attorneys representing the school district and the city, attorney Kelly Hollingsworth says that Ahmed's civil rights were violated by the way the case was handled.

Irving city officials told CNN they were reviewing the letter and had no comment.

School district spokeswoman Lesley Weaver told CNN that the district is aware of the letter and also had no comment.

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Japan plans to raise minimum wage

Japan’s government plans to raise the minimum wage and introduce other steps to revitalise the economy, but the draft of stimulus measures seen by Reuters on Monday appeared to break no new ground on reforms that analysts say are needed to end decades of stagnation.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government will also offer some financial support to people living off their pensions to bolster consumer spending, a copy of the draft obtained by Reuters showed.

Citing unnamed sources, the Nikkei newspaper said on Monday that the government is planning to raise the minimum wage by 3.0 per cent. But the draft didn’t provide any specifics and analysts say the government will need to do more to foster durable growth.

Raising wages is an urgent task for policy makers as Tokyo is keen to ramp up consumer spending, which is seen as crucial to boosting domestic demand and pulling the economy out of 15 years of deflation.

However, some economists remained sceptical of the plans because they do not do enough to address Japan’s rigid labour market and low worker productivity.

"This sounds like short-term stimulus, but Japan needs structural reforms more than stimulus measures," said Marcel Thieliant, Japan economist at Capital Economics in Singapore.

"We might get a growth spurt for the next one to two years, but this will not lead to stronger growth in the long term."

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Pakistan not considering MFN status to India

Despite being a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pakistan yet to provide Most Favoured Nation (MFN) to India, which is also a member of the organisation.

MFN is a basic principle of WTO which asks its members not to discriminate one member with others.

Pakistan Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on Friday categorically informed the country’s National Assembly that no proposal was under consideration to give the MFN status to India, reports DAWN.

He also said that the existence of a negative list was a clear indication that the MFN status had not been given to India. He said that since the Modi government took over last year, no bilateral trade talks had taken place. About non-tariff barriers, he said that these were dealt with on a case-to-case basis with India.

The positive list had been transformed into the negative list few years ago when there was a discussion to provide MFN status to India.

Mr Dastgir, however, said China and Taiwan were in conflict, but their annual bilateral trade was $200 billion. China and India also have hostile relations, but their trade volume stands at $75bn per annum. He also said that being a member of the WTO, Pakis¬tan could not discriminate between its members in trade.

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Goldman Sachs bets on Russian currency

Goldman Sachs, the US investment bank, predicts that the Russian currency Ruble will be on the list of good performing currencies next year along with the US dollar and the Mexican peso.

The Russian Times (RT) report also mentioned that Glodman Sachs suggest buying Russian and Mexican currencies over South Africa’s Rand and Chile’s Peso.

This week, the Ruble has grown three per cent, but seems not strong enough to continue the trend in 2015.

Ruble assets have found useful support over the last week on a perceived rapprochement between Russia and the West. “This relationship may, however, will be tested over the coming days and weeks as fundamentals continue to be weak, oil prices remain under pressure and a December Fed liftoff seems increasingly likely,” told Ivan Tchakarov, economist at Citigroup.

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Suu Kyi Says Myanmar to continue friendly policy toward China

Myanmar will continue to adopt a friendly foreign policy with all countries including China and place more emphasis on relations with its neighbors, Chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Aung San Suu Kyi said on Tuesday.

Since independence, Myanmar has always been adopting a friendly foreign policy with all countries, which is the correct policy for the country, she told Xinhua, adding that the NLD could successfully implement such a policy.

Asked about the issue of attracting foreign investment, Suu Kyi welcomd investment from all countries, including China, in Myanmar.

She stressed that it was imperative to gain the trust of Myanmar people to make investment in the country.

She also praised China's "Belt and Road" initiative, hoping the plan could benefit all sides.

The initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, is aimed at reviving the ancient trade routes that span Asia, Africa and Europe.

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China stocks mixed

China stocks ended Thursday morning mixed as small caps rebounded but property shares dropped on profit-taking after the previous session's surge, with investors cautious ahead of a batch of initial public offerings. Hong Kong shares climbed over 1 per cent, encouraged by a jump in Wall Street. The CSI300 index rose 0.2 per cent, to 3,721.21 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1 per cent, to 3,566.83. The market was hald back by a sharp correction in property stocks. The CSI300 Real Estate index fell 1.7 per cent, wiping much of Wednesday's 3.5 per cent jump.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 1.2 per cent, to 22,442.54 point, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 1.2 per cent, to 10,175.30. Geely Automobile Holdings jumped 5.5 per cent, after the Chinese automaker said it plans to concentrate entirely on developing green energy vehicles, eschewing traditional combustion engines and completely overhauling its product portfolio, according to Reuters.

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1,000 bison to be killed this winter

Yellowstone National Park proposes to kill roughly 1,000 wild bison this winter — mostly calves and females — as officials seek to reduce the animals' annual migration into Montana.

Park officials are scheduled to meet Thursday with representatives of American Indian tribes, the state and other federal agencies to decide on the plan.

It marks the continuation of a controversial agreement reached in 2000 between Montana and the federal government that was meant to prevent the spread of the disease brucellosis from bison to livestock.

Almost 5,000 bison roamed the park this summer. A harsh winter could drive thousands into areas of southwestern Montana.

Hunters, including from tribes with treaty rights in the Yellowstone area, are anticipated to kill more than 300 of the animals this winter. Others would be captured and slaughtered or used for research.

"Through the legal agreement the National Park Service has to do this," said Yellowstone spokeswoman Sandy Snell-Dobert. "If there was more tolerance north of the park in Montana for wildlife, particularly bison as well as other wildlife, to travel outside the park boundaries, it wouldn't be an issue."

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Tamil Nadu floods kill dozens

India has deployed the army and air force to rescue flood-hit residents in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where at least 71 people have died in around a week of torrential rains.

Media reports said military helicopters were being used to drop food and drinking water to the worst-hit areas, while schools and businesses in state capital Chennai had been forced to close.

Twelve children and 10 adults were airlifted to safety on Monday, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency quoted an official as saying.

PTI said at least 71 people had died since the rains started last week, with the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka also affected.

Television footage showed families in Chennai using canoes to get through waist-deep waters.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram said the government was "working day and night" to bring relief to victims of the floods, caused by a cyclonic depression formed in the Bay of Bengal.

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Dutch Queen Máxima due in city Monday

Dutch Queen Máxima arrives in Dhaka on Monday on a four-day visit to Bangladesh. She will visit as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, said a Foreign Ministry official. The Queen will have meetings with President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and other stakeholders during her four-day visit, according to a news agency.

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Paris attacks: Restaurant worker saves two women

When the firing started on Friday night, Safer was at work behind the bar of the Casa Nostra restaurant in Paris.

Standing near the place where he almost died, he calmly recounts his ordeal.

"I was at the counter. We heard explosions - really loud bangs. Everyone started screaming, glass rained down on us. It was awful. There was glass all over the place, hitting us in our faces.

"I saw two women out on the terrace had been hit. One in the wrist and in the other in the shoulder. They were bleeding really badly."

Despite the obvious danger, Safer says he felt he had to help.

He waited for a lull in the firing, then ran outside to the wounded women.

"I picked them up and rushed them downstairs to the basement. I sat with them and tried to stop the bleeding.

"As we were downstairs, we could hear the gunfire continuing above. It was terrifying."

As frightening as it was, they had in fact escaped much worse.

"When we came out we saw bodies in the street. So many were injured."

The Casa Nostra is in the eastern 11th arrondissement, which is a mixed area that is home to many Muslims and people of Arab origin.

In the northern 18th arrondissement, one of the main Muslim quarters of Paris, the anger is palpable.

"We aren't like them," says Jamal, 44, of the attackers. "We have nothing to do with them. We are disgusted."

He is also worried about the wider impact that attacks like these have on the Muslim community.

Safer doesn't have the answers. He lives in the 11th and is a Muslim of Algerian origin.

In some ways, his story mirrors that of Lassana Bathily, a young immigrant from Mali who hid a group of frightened shoppers from the assault at the Kosher supermarket in January.

Both were Muslim, and both risked their lives for others.

About the attack, Safer said, "This has nothing to do with religion. Real Muslims are not made for killing people.”

"These men (Paris attackers) are criminals,” according to BBC. -amh

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UK students protest high cost of education

Thousands of protesters marched through London recently to express anger about the rising cost of higher education.

The UK joins a growing list of countries that saw angry crowds of students taking to the streets over the past year. South Africa and Chile both had large protests of the cost of higher education in the last few months.

A plan to cut government money that supports full-time university students is the reason for the London protests. This money, called maintenance grants, helps full-time higher education students with the cost of living. Students do not have to pay the money back to the government.

British Member of Parliament George Osborne announced in June that maintenance grants would no longer be available. Osborne said that starting in 2016, the government will offer maintenance loans instead. These loans will need to be paid back.

Cuts to supports for students will affect low and middle income students the most, critics say.

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Saudi stocks moves little

Most Saudi Arabian stocks were little changed early on Tuesday, though some second-tier shares gained sharply. Egyptian stocks rose. The Saudi index was flat after half an hour of trade. Saudi Printing and Packaging Co jumped 7.0 per cent, adding to a 9.8 per cent leap on Monday; it has been rising in heavy trade since shortly after it reported quarterly earnings on Oct. 20. Kingdom Holding dropped 0.9 per cent after saying it expected no financial impact from its sale of a 29.9 per cent stake in media firm Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG). SRMG climbed 9.9 per cent after a 7.2 per cent gain on Monday. Egypt's index rose 0.8 per cent, though turnover was modest and the 10 most heavily traded stocks barely moved, according to Reuters.

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