Asia

Former President Bill Clinton has made a surprise visit to North Korea to try to win the release of two jailed US journalists that were be put on trial on charges of illegal entry and hostile acts. The two reporters, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, were detained along the Chinese border on March 17. The reporters work for Al Gore’s Current TV.

A torch to be lit from the Hiroshima Flame on August 5 will be carried on a march around the world to promote the abolition of nuclear weapons – ending up at the United Nations in May 2010 for a major inter-governmental conference on nuclear non-proliferation.
It will remain alight until all nuclear weapons are eliminated.

Before travelling to attend ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I dwelled on what would be the priorities for pacifists today. To find answers, I asked myself what would be the most brutal violence against human beings? The image of the detonation of a nuclear bomb over a population living in any city around the world.

The Obama administration took major steps this week toward helping several major US defense contractors sell sophisticated US arms and nuclear technology to India. Increased US-India nuclear cooperation is stoking fears the US is escalating India’s arms race with Pakistan. Both states are declared nuclear states endangering the regional situation.

UNESCO has recognised the efforts of The Philippine Madrigal Singers to promote dialogue and understanding between people in South East Asia. The Philippine group who were organised under the direction of Professor Andrea O. Veneración, at the University of the Philippines in 1963 has been recognised as one of the best choirs in the world.

India presented on Sunday the first of five nuclear powered submarines that it plans to produce, with its energy source being an 85 megawatt nuclear reactor which can generate a speed of 44 kilometres per hours underwater. The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh called it an “historic milestone in the country’s defence preparedness.”

Tadatoshi Akiba says he is “furious” with the country´s disregard of international demonstrations against their threat of building a nuclear arsenal. The UN Security Council called for sanctions over the country´s tests voting unanimously for sanctions both on the nuclear tests and the North Korean ballistic missile programmes.

156 people have died and more than 800 have been injured in the worst wave of ethnic violence in many decades in China during strong clashes between the Han and Uigur ethnic groups. A curfew was declared today in the Xinjiang region from 9pm until 8am to “avoid more chaos”.

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence banner turns the heads of young participants in the week-long festival celebrating Purnima Jatra when a palanquin containing the deity is paraded all around towns in Nepal. The villagers gather to pay respects, see the fun, and pray for rain for the good of their agricultural endeavours. This photo was taken in the Kebere District just outside Kathmandu. Photo from-by Tulsi.

North Korea made a new challenge today launching two short range SCUD missiles, from their east coast into the Sea of Japan, according to information from the local news agency, Yonhap.

Both missiles, with a range of around 500 km, seem to have been launched around 8 am local time (23:00 GMT) from a military base close to the coastal city of Wonsan located in the south east of North Korea.

The launch was made two days after the regime fired another four short-range missiles, also from the East coast into the Sea of Japan to coincide with US Independence Day on the 4th of July.