Once again, there’s speculation that something is up in the world’s most closed society.

In the current situation, speaking out forcefully as some are demanding can only do more harm than good.

The streets of Hong Kong have been filled with protesters upset over China’s efforts to control the city’s political future.

North Korea’s young, reclusive leader may be ill, because even the North Korean press is acknowledging that something is wrong: That Kim Jong-un is carrying a few extra pounds has been obvious since he became North Korea’s leader in late 2011. But speculation that his increasing weight – apparently partly due to a weakness for […]

A scandal erupted when the Chinese people learned their leaders were flying first class and staying in five-star hotels. Problem solved!

Via the LAT,  Beijing’s smog makes Los Angeles air look good: In the American Lung Assn.’s 2014 national State of the Air survey, the L.A.-Long Beach area ranked worst in terms of ozone concentrations and third worst in terms of particulates as measured by the standard known as PM2.5, which captures particles so small they […]

Via the BBC:  Iraq crisis: Military claims control of Mosul dam Iraqi military spokesman Lt-Gen Qassim Atta told state TV the dam – Iraq’s largest – had been "fully cleansed". Troops had been backed by a joint air patrol, he added, without specifying if there had been any US air strikes. However, journalists in the […]

North Korea is telling its people that their men’s national team is in the World Cup Final: We’ve known for a long time now that supreme leader Kim Jong-un controls the flow of information to his people, with the television channels only reporting positive stuff about the country. But in a report posted on YouTube, […]

Nearly seventy years after the end of World War Two, Japan has approved a change to its Constitution that was imposed in the post-war era largely to prevent the rise of a militaristic Japan: Japan’s cabinet has agreed on a proposal to end a ban on its military fighting abroad, a major shift away from […]

While the world watches Ukraine, Central Asia could also be an area where Russia may seek to expand its territory.

Diplomatic word games.

Another civilian government falls in Thailand.

The military in Thailand has imposed martial law in the wake of a series of protests from supporters of a deposed Prime Minister: BANGKOK — Citing a century-old law, the head of Thailand’s Army declared what he described as nationwide martial law early Tuesday and urged protesters who have paralyzed the government and blocked elections […]

In a highly unusual move, the North Korean government is publicly admitting to what seems to be a serious construction disaster: SEOUL, South Korea — A 23-story apartment building that may have housed more than 90 families collapsed in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, last week, a South Korean government official said on Sunday, after […]

The world’s most populous democracy recently completed an election process that lasted nearly two months, and it’s resulted in some big political changes; NEW DELHI — The Indian National Congress, which has headed India’s government for nearly all the country’s post-Independence history, conceded defeat to the opposition leader Narendra Modi on Friday, as voters rendered […]

China sends a message to Kim Jong Un.

The USA’s 142-year streak as the world’s largest economy is ending.

Predicting the end of the DPRK is a fool’s errand.

Via the BBC:  Afghan poll: Abdullah slightly ahead as count continues Partial results from the Afghan presidential vote show former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah slightly ahead of Ashraf Ghani. With about 500,000 votes in 26 provinces counted, Dr Abdullah has 41.9% with Mr Ghani on 37.6%. […] The partial results gave another main contender and […]

Via the BBC:  Afghanistan election: Millions vote in presidential poll Eight candidates are seeking to succeed Hamid Karzai, who is barred by the constitution from seeking a third consecutive term as president. […] Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) secretary Ziaul Haq Amarkhel said seven million people had voted by 17:00 local time, when the polls had […]

The opening to China was entirely Richard Nixon’s idea. Henry Kissinger opposed it vehemently.

Via the BBC:  Synthetic lingerie ban in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. From the video clip: “Why are you afraid of panties?” she shouts.

If a report out of a Singapore newspaper is to be believed, the execution of Jang Soong Thaek, uncle to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was particularly brutal: BEIJING — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful uncle was stripped naked, thrown into a cage, and eaten alive by a pack of ravenous dogs, […]

Via the BBC:  Japan’s population falls ‘by record 244,000’ in 2013 Japan’s population declined by a record 244,000 people in 2013, according to health ministry estimates. The ministry said an estimated 1,031,000 babies were born last year – down some 6,000 from the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of people that died last year was […]

Kim Jong Un seems to share his father’s taste for alcohol.

The North Koreans are back to their old tricks.

Via the BBC:  China lands Jade Rabbit robot rover on Moon China says it has successfully landed a craft carrying a robotic rover on the surface of the Moon, the first soft landing there for 37 years. On Saturday afternoon (GMT), a landing module used thrusters to touch down, marking the latest step in China’s […]

Last evening, word broke that Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Un’s uncle, had been executed. The official statement of the Korean Central News Agency provides further insights: Upon hearing the report on the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the service personnel and people throughout the […]

Well, that didn’t take long.

Via the Times of India:  Supreme Court makes homosexuality a crime again The Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt a cruel blow to lakhs of homosexuals, many of whom had started living together after the Delhi high court decriminalized same-sex relationships four years ago, by making it a crime again, even if it is consensual and […]

The recent surprising removal of a top North Korean official from office, and the fact that it was done in such a public manner, may be unnerving North Korea’s benefactors in China: BEIJING — North Koreans had long known Jang Song-thaek as the No. 2 figure in their country, the revered uncle and mentor of […]

In a rare move, the North Korean government is talking openly about the removal of a top regime official: SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea confirmed on Monday that Jang Song-thaek, the uncle of Kim Jong-un, the country’s top leader, had been stripped of all titles of power and expelled from the ruling Workers’ Party […]

The ongoing client in the seas and skies in the Western Pacific took a new turn when South Korea announced an expansion of its own air defense zone: SEOUL, South Korea — Defying both China and Japan, South Korea announced on Sunday that it was expanding its air patrol zone for the first time in […]

Merrill Newman, the 85 year old U.S. Korean War veteran who was taken off a plane in Pyongyang in late October and held by North Korea for more than a month, has been freed and is back on his way to the United States: HONG KONG — An American veteran who had been held captive […]

The U.S. position on China’s new air defense zone is exceedingly clear. The question is where it goes from here.

Amnesty International has just released a new report titled “NORTH KOREA: NEW SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW CONTINUED INVESTMENT IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF REPRESSION.” It’s available in both HTML and PDF formats at the link. Their press release provides a good synopsis. A former security official at kwanliso 16 – the largest political prison camp in North […]

Hey Uncle, you’re fired.

Protests in Thailand have taken a fairly violent turn: Four protesters have been killed and more than 100 people injured in Bangkok as pro- and antigovernment rivals face off in escalating street clashes, with police unleashing tear gas and water cannons on the riotous crowd on Sunday. Embattled Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was forced […]

Even as it defies China’s illegal territorial claims with military flights, the Obama administration is urging US airlines to comply.

The elderly American veteran who was pulled off a plane just before it left Pyongyan several weeks ago has been accused by the North Korean Government of committing “war crimes”: BEIJING — North Korea accused an elderly American veteran of war crimes, and released a video Saturday of him confessing to “hostile acts” during the […]

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will stand trial for treason: Pakistan’s government plans to put former President Pervez Musharraf on trial for treason for declaring a state of emergency and suspending the constitution while in power, the interior minister said Sunday. Musharraf, a former army chief, would be the first military ruler tried for treason in […]

China’s Communist Party has announced a significant change to the nation’s infamous “One Child” policy.

The good folks at The Guardian wonder, “Why have young people in Japan stopped having sex?”

In other news of international diplomacy, the exceedingly strange Dennis Rodman is once again hanging out in North Korea: HONG KONG — The former basketball star Dennis Rodman returned Tuesday to North Korea, where he plans “to see my friend” Kim Jong-un, the dictator whose country until recently was threatening to annihilate the United States […]

Well, this seems particularly harsh: A popular North Korean singer — and Kim Jong Un’s former flame — was among a dozen performers executed by a firing squad last week, reports said Wednesday. Hyon Song-wol, a well-known pop artist and longtime girlfriend of the dictator, was gunned down with the group of songsters on Aug. […]

Japan’s National Debt has reached a level that’s somewhat incomprehensible.

In response to North Korean saber rattling and the rise of China, Japan is reassessing it’s military posture

The Indian Army apparently thought that they were being spied on by the Chinese, but it turned out they were looking at a more extraterrestrial observer: New Delhi, July 23: Phew! Science has saved a Roman god and a goddess from possible Armageddon launched from the Earth by the mighty Indian Army, egged on by […]

A new report released this morning shows slowing in China’s manufacturing sector: HONG KONG — China’s manufacturing sector contracted in July at the quickest pace since last summer, according to the early reading of a survey released on Wednesday. The survey came in at an 11-month low of 47.7 points for July, down from the […]

To maintain growth China needs to consider its priorities.