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North Korea’s Kim in China ahead of massive military parade

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travels by train as he leaves Pyongyang to attend China's celebration of the formal surrender of Japan in World War Two, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on September 2, 2025. (REUTERS)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travels by train as he leaves Pyongyang to attend China's celebration of the formal surrender of Japan in World War Two, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on September 2, 2025. (REUTERS)
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Updated 13 min 16 sec ago

North Korea’s Kim in China ahead of massive military parade

North Korea’s Kim in China ahead of massive military parade
  • The North Korean leader's special train passed into China early Tuesday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing the North's state-run radio service, KCBC

BEIJING: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was on his way to Beijing on Tuesday morning, having crossed the border into China aboard an armored train ahead of a massive military parade on Wednesday.
Kim will join Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin for a huge spectacle in which China will showcase its military prowess, with troops marching in formation, flypasts and other high-tech fighting gear.
More than 25 leaders will also attend Wednesday’s parade centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.
Millions of Chinese people were killed during a prolonged war with imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which became part of a global conflict following Tokyo’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
China has touted the parade as a show of unity with other countries, and Kim’s attendance will be the first time he has been seen with Xi and Putin at the same event.
The North Korean leader’s special train passed into China early Tuesday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing the North’s state-run radio service, KCBC.
His appearance in China “formalizes the China-Russia-North Korea trilateral (relationship) to the public,” Soo Kim, a geopolitical risk consultant and former CIA analyst, told AFP.
Kim enjoyed a brief bout of high-profile international diplomacy from around 2018, meeting US President Donald Trump and then South Korean president Moon Jae-in multiple times.
But he withdrew from the global scene after the collapse of a summit with Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019.
Kim stayed in North Korea throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, but met Putin in Russia’s far east in 2023.

Security around Beijing has tightened in recent days and weeks, with road closures, military personnel stationed on bridges and street corners, and miles upon miles of white barriers lining the capital’s wide boulevards.
Art installations with flowers, doves and an emblem showing the Great Wall of China with “1945-2025” have cropped up around the city, and on Tuesday morning Chinese flags flew in residential neighborhoods.
Officials have been tight-lipped over the list of hardware to be displayed at the parade, but military enthusiasts have already spotted significant new systems, including what is rumored to be a gigantic laser weapon.
Wednesday’s event caps a bumper week of diplomacy for President Xi, who on Sunday and Monday hosted a slew of Eurasian leaders for a summit in the northern port city of Tianjin aimed at putting China front and center of regional relations.
The club of 10 countries — named the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) — touts itself as a non-Western style of collaboration in the region and seeks to be an alternative to traditional alliances.
During the summit, Xi slammed “bullying behavior” from certain countries — a veiled reference to the United States — while Putin defended Russia’s Ukraine offensive, blaming the West for triggering the conflict.
Many of the guests from the Tianjin gathering, including Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and several other leaders will join Xi and Kim for the parade in Beijing.


New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler says he won’t run for reelection in 2026

New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler says he won’t run for reelection in 2026
Updated 8 min 57 sec ago

New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler says he won’t run for reelection in 2026

New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler says he won’t run for reelection in 2026

WASHINGTON: Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York says he will not run for reelection next year, according to an interview published Monday night by The New York Times.
Nadler told the Times that watching then-President Joe Biden’s truncated reelection campaign last year “really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that.” He suggested a younger Democratic lawmaker in his seat “can maybe do better, can maybe help us more.”
Nadler, 78, is serving his 17th term in Congress. He was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2023, then served as ranking member on the panel after Republicans won House leadership. He stepped down from that role late last year.
Nadler’s decision to relinquish that spot came a day after fellow Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin announced his bid for the job and quickly amassed support from colleagues.
“I am also proud that, under my leadership, some of our caucus’s most talented rising stars have been given a platform to demonstrate their leadership and their abilities,” Nadler wrote then in a letter to Democrats that was obtained by The Associated Press.
Without naming names, Nadler suggested to the Times that some of his Democratic colleagues should also consider retirement.
“I’m not saying we should change over the entire party,” Nadler said in the interview posted Monday. “But I think a certain amount of change is very helpful, especially when we face the challenge of  Trump and his incipient fascism.”


President Donald Trump’s policies spark protests in multiple US cities on Labor Day

President Donald Trump’s policies spark protests in multiple US cities on Labor Day
Updated 24 min 11 sec ago

President Donald Trump’s policies spark protests in multiple US cities on Labor Day

President Donald Trump’s policies spark protests in multiple US cities on Labor Day
  • In New York, people gathered outside Trump Tower, which has become a magnet for protests and remains a prominent symbol of the president’s wealth, even though the president hasn’t lived in the Manhattan skyscraper for years

CHICAGO: Protesters took to the streets in multiple US cities on Labor Day to criticize President Donald Trump and demand a living wage for workers.
Demonstrations in Chicago and New York were organized by One Fair Wage to draw attention to the struggles laborers face in the US, where the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Chants of “Trump must go now!” echoed outside the president’s former home in New York, while protesters gathered outside a different Trump Tower in Chicago, yelling “No National Guard” and “Lock him up!” Large crowds also gathered in Washington D.C. and San Francisco.
In New York, people gathered outside Trump Tower, which has become a magnet for protests and remains a prominent symbol of the president’s wealth, even though the president hasn’t lived in the Manhattan skyscraper for years. Demonstrators waved signs and banners calling for an end to what they said is a fascist regime.
In Washington, a large crowd gathered with signs saying “Stop the ICE invasion” and an umbrella painted with “Free D.C. No masked thugs.” Hundreds more gathered at protests along the West Coast to fight for the rights of immigrants and workers.
Multiple groups joined together at the protests in Chicago to listen to speeches and lend their voices to the chants.
“We’re here because we’re under attack. We’re here because our core values and our democracy is under attack. We are here because they are threatening to send the military into our streets,” Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, Illinois, told the crowd in Chicago as he urged them to stand up for workers.
At one point, a woman got out of a vehicle with Iowa plates in Chicago to shout “Long live Donald Trump” over and over again, resulting in a brief confrontation as the protesters responded with shouts of their own until the woman left a few minutes later.
In the crowd, Ziri Marquez said she came out because she’s concerned about overlapping issues in the US and around the world, decrying anti-migrant attitudes in the US and the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.
“I think especially, you know, when we’re dealing with low wages and we’re dealing with a stagnant economy, immigrants are largely used as a scapegoat,” said Marquez, 25.
Along the West Coast from San Diego up to Seattle, hundreds gathered at rallies to call for a stop to the “billionaire takeover.”
Groups supporting federal workers and unions marched in Los Angeles; San Francisco; and Portland, Oregon, in support of workers rights. Rally organizer May Day Strong said on its website that “billionaires are stealing from working families, destroying our democracy and building private armies to attack our towns and cities.”
They called on people to take collective action to stop the takeover.
Portland protester Lynda Oakley of Beaverton told Oregolive.com that her frustrations with health care, immigration and Social Security inspired her to join the march.
“I am done with what’s happening in our country,” she said.
King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who took part in a demonstration at Seattle’s Cascade Playground, told KOMO News that they wanted to send a message of workers above billionaires.
“Workers should be more powerful than the small billionaire class,” she said.

 


New Zealand to allow some wealthy foreign investors onto property market

New Zealand to allow some wealthy foreign investors onto property market
Updated 31 min 2 sec ago

New Zealand to allow some wealthy foreign investors onto property market

New Zealand to allow some wealthy foreign investors onto property market
  • The visas give residency to people investing a minimum NZ $5 million in New Zealand businesses over three years, or NZ $10 million over five years if the money is deposited in less risky investments

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: New Zealand will relax a ban on foreigners buying homes in the country to allow some wealthy overseas business investors a single high-value residential property purchase, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Monday.
The move partially reverses a ban introduced in 2018 by a previous government to cool a runaway housing market fueled by property speculation. Holders of a residency “golden visa” reintroduced by Luxon’s government in April will now be able to buy one home worth at least 5 million New Zealand dollars ($3 million).
Luxon said the move balanced a desire to attract wealthy investors to the country with allaying house price fears. The change stops well short of a full reversal of the policy and would apply only to a small number of wealthy foreigners and a limited number of houses, he added.
The visas, which were intended to draw overseas investors to the country’s businesses, give residency to people investing a minimum NZ $5 million in New Zealand businesses over three years, or NZ $10 million over five years if the money is deposited in less risky investments.
Some visa holders had been ineligible to buy property because they didn’t live in New Zealand for at least six months of the year. That requirement will now be waived.
Luxon’s opponents decried the policy reversal Monday, saying it focused on attracting wealthy foreigners instead of solving domestic problems.
“Many Kiwis are already struggling to buy a home, and he has just made it worse,” opposition Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. “Homelessness is up, unemployment is up, and people cannot afford the basics at the supermarket.”
Push to attract wealthy foreign investors
The government hopes reversing the ban for some will boost economic growth by luring wealthy foreigners to the country during a period of recession.
“We’re a safe haven in a very volatile and uncertain world,” Luxon told reporters in Auckland on Monday, of his government’s pitch to investors abroad. Those investors would create jobs, he said.
Luxon denied the move would lift house prices which have fallen from a 2022 peak. He said applications so far for the residency visa that would allow a home purchase could result in up to NZ $1.8 billion in investment.
Officials have received just over 300 applications for the visas, representing about 1,000 people, government figures showed. Almost 40 percent of applicants were from the United States.
Luxon said the rule that houses must be worth a minimum amount meant that fewer than 1 percent of New Zealand’s houses -– about 10,000 homes -– would be eligible for foreign investors to buy. The majority of those home (about 80 percent) are in the largest city, Auckland, with around 10 percent in the popular skiing and tourism destination of Queenstown, on the South Island, where wealthy foreigners have snapped up bolt holes before.
The average cost of a home in July was NZ $767,250, according to figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. In Auckland, the average cost was NZ $975,000.
Housing crisis
The ban on allowing foreigners to buy property, which was introduced during a housing affordability crisis, prompted debate about the extent to which foreigners had contributed to ballooning prices and shut out domestic first-time buyers. Figures at the time showed about 3 percent of New Zealand homes were being sold to foreigners, although the number rose to 22 percent in Auckland.
Exceptions to the ban were made for Australians and Singaporeans under trade agreements.
Support for the ban was bolstered by anecdotal tales, never well-substantiated, of wealthy foreigners building doomsday-style bunkers in the scenic Queenstown region.
New Zealand, located in a remote part of the South Pacific, is a popular destination for migrants seeking distance from global tumult and applications to move there often increase during moments of turbulence, according to years of official data.
Luxon’s center-right party campaigned in the 2023 election on a pledge to reverse the ban. His negotiations as part of a coalition governing deal with other political parties, however, forced him to compromise on only a partial rollback.


Mob burns Nigerian woman to death over Islam blasphemy claim: police

Policemen stand guard at the police headquarters in Jos. (AFP file photo)
Policemen stand guard at the police headquarters in Jos. (AFP file photo)
Updated 02 September 2025

Mob burns Nigerian woman to death over Islam blasphemy claim: police

Policemen stand guard at the police headquarters in Jos. (AFP file photo)
  • Sharia law operates alongside common law in 12 predominantly Muslim states in Nigeria — including Niger — and blasphemy is punishable by death

KANO, Nigeria: A mob burnt a woman to death in central Nigeria over the weekend after accusing her of blasphemy against Islam, police said Monday.
The woman “was set ablaze” on Saturday in a “mob attack” after she made comments about the Prophet Muhammad, police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun in Niger state said in a statement.
He said the woman was a food vendor named Amaye from northwest Nigerian Katsina state.
Abiodun added that the police condemned any act of “jungle justice” and urged members of the public to remain calm during the search for the attackers.
Sharia law operates alongside common law in 12 predominantly Muslim states in Nigeria — including Niger — and blasphemy is punishable by death.
In many cases the accused are killed by mobs without going through the legal process, though the attack on the weekend is not thought to have involved a legal process.
Such attacks are rare though a butcher in the northern city of Sokoto was stoned to death in June 2023 and a Christian college student was killed by Muslim students a year earlier, both after blasphemy allegations.
 

 


Israel moves EU approval for diaspora bond to Luxembourg from Ireland amid Gaza protests

Israel moves EU approval for diaspora bond to Luxembourg from Ireland amid Gaza protests
Updated 02 September 2025

Israel moves EU approval for diaspora bond to Luxembourg from Ireland amid Gaza protests

Israel moves EU approval for diaspora bond to Luxembourg from Ireland amid Gaza protests
  • Non-EU countries must choose one EU member state to apply to for approval of a prospectus where securities are traded in the EU

DUBLIN: Israel has moved the process of securing EU approval for its diaspora bond prospectus to Luxembourg from Ireland amid increasing opposition in Dublin to its central bank’s role in approving the program on behalf of the European Union.
Irish lawmakers and pro-Palestine campaign groups have called on the central bank to stop facilitating the sale of the bonds over the last year due to Israel’s near two-year military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials.
Israel’s diaspora bonds are relatively small and sold mainly in Jewish communities around the world to help supplement the state’s bond sales that finance its budget deficit that has risen due to the war. Israel launched a diaspora bond campaign in October 2023 to raise money amid the conflict.
Non-EU countries must choose one EU member state to apply to for approval of a prospectus where securities are traded in the EU and Ireland’s central bank had been asked to approve Israel’s diaspora bond program each year since 2021.
A joint committee of Irish lawmakers recommended in August that the government seek to amend EU regulations so as to allow each individual European central bank to refuse to act as the competent authority for such bond prospectuses.
Protesters have also demonstrated outside the central bank’s offices.
Ireland is one of the most pro-Palestinian EU member states. It officially recognized a Palestinian state last year and the government is drafting legislation on restricting trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Irish central bank had consistently said it is legally obliged to approve any prospectus once the relevant conditions are met.
In a letter to a lawmaker published by the central bank, Governor Gabriel Makhlouf said the approval for Israel’s program would be transferred to Luxembourg upon the expiry of the prior year’s prospectus on Monday.
The new prospectus published on the website of Israel Bonds, the country’s borrowing vehicle for diaspora bonds, said its program for the next year had been approved by Luxembourg.
Israel’s finance ministry said the move was a natural step as the state was already working with Luxembourg in its tradable sovereign debt program. The move will ensure Israel “maintains continuous access to investors worldwide,” it added in an emailed statement.