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☆ New Scandal Engulfs South Korean Leader in Wake of Marine’s Death
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The South Korean marines were sent in after monsoon rains flooded a rural section of the country’s heartland last July. When the ground gave way, five of them were swept away in the churning brown water and one, Lance Cpl. Nearly a year later, the death of the 20-year-old marine has become an impeachment threat for South Korea’s leader, President Yoon Suk Yeol. The South Korean military is no stranger to tragic accidents, but this latest episode has evolved into the first major political crisis for Mr. Yoon since his party’s crushing defeat in parliamentary elections last month. The career military officer who investigated Lance Corporal Chae’s death has accused the Defense Ministry of whitewashing the probe and absolving top military brass of responsibility — all under pressure from Mr. Yoon.

Persons: Lance Cpl, Chae Su, Yoon Suk, Yoon, Corporal Chae’s Organizations: South, Defense Ministry Locations: United States, Korea, China

☆ Blackstone's data-center bets have climbed 10-fold to $100 billion in just 3 years. And it's just the start, Steve Schwarzman says.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Schwarzman said QTS was now "the largest data center company in North America" and that data centers were one of Blackstone's "highest conviction investment themes today." Jon Gray, Blackstone's president, suggested Blackstone's data center portfolio would continue to grow. The size of Blackstone's investments in data centers reflect an astonishing rise for a once-obscure industry that's gaining importance in the race to develop and commercialize artificial intelligence. Around the country, there has been a boom of data center construction. Late last year, QTS won local approval to build one of the country's largest new data center projects in Virginia.

Persons: Steve Schwarzman, Schwarzman, Blackstone's, Blackstone, QTS, Jon Gray, Gray, Michael Chae, We've Organizations: Business, Blackstone, Google, Income Trust, Digital Realty Trust Locations: North America, QTS, Virginia, Frankfurt, Paris

☆ Songkran 2024: Celebrating Thailand’s annual New Year festival
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Karla Cripps | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Bangkok, Thailand CNN —On the surface, Thailand’s annual Songkran festival appears to be just one great big water fight. Pipad Krajaejun, a history lecturer at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, says it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when the water fights became such a key part of the festival. (We’ll share more on the water fights below.) Some towns limit the water fights to one day, so be sure to check ahead if you’re planning to join the battles. Soe Zeya Tun/ReutersAmong the highlights of the festival is the Maha Songkran Parade, which will happen on April 11.

Persons: Thailand CNN —, that’s, ”, Songkran, Boonserm Satraphai, Pipad, “, Soe Zeya Tun, University’s Pipad, Nam, Chalinee Thirasupa, MBK, Lauren DeCicca, John S Lander, it’s, CNN Travel’s Karla Cripps, she’s Organizations: CNN, Thailand CNN, UNESCO, Heritage, Bangkok’s Thammasat University, CNN Travel, ”, Thailand’s Tourism Authority, of, Reuters, Central Department, Thai Locations: Bangkok, Thailand, it’s, Chiang Mai, Thailand's, Khao San, Chiang, Old City, Pipad, Chiangmai, Thailand’s, Ratchadamnoen, Lanna, San

☆ The North Korean refugees sold to Chinese husbands
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Jessie Yeung | Yoonjung Seo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

China considers North Korean refugees to be economic migrants, and forcibly deports them back to North Korea – where, as alleged defectors, they face imprisonment, possible torture or worse, activists say. During that period, she also met other North Korean refugees in the same situation – with their status public knowledge in the village, she said. According to the KFI report, the buying of a North Korean wife is “always known to the local community” but rarely reported to authorities. The other North Korean refugees she’d met in town had connections to brokers who could help them escape, while church organizations and non-profit groups discreetly helped raise funds for the journey. Brokers who remain have raised their prices due to increased risks and surveillance, while newcomers to the business are inexperienced, making it a risky gamble for North Korean refugees.

Persons: South Korea CNN — Chae, –, she’s, Yoonjung Seo, She’d, didn’t, “, ”, Chae, ” didn’t, Kim Jeong Ah, Kim, she’d, we’ll, ” Chae, Seo, Unification Ministry –, She’s, – she’s Organizations: South Korea CNN, North, CNN, North Korea –, Korea Future Initiative, KFI, US State Department, Human Rights Watch, Female North, United Nations, Liberty, Korean, Koreans, Unification Ministry, Brokers Locations: Seoul, South Korea, North Korea, China, Laos, Thailand, North Korean, Hebei, Beijing, London, Korea, Korean, North, ”, South, South Koreans

☆ South Korea to ban production and sale of dog meat for human consumption
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

After a three-year grace period, the bill would make slaughtering, breeding and sales of dog meat for human consumption illegal from 2027 and punishable by 2-3 years in prison. Dog meat consumption, a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula, is neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea. Recent surveys show more than half of South Koreans want dog meat banned and a majority no longer eat it. But South Korea's dog meat industry has drawn more attention because of the country's reputation as a cultural and economic powerhouse. There is no reliable official data on the exact size of South Korea's dog meat industry.

Persons: —, Yoon Suk Yeol, JungAh Chae, It's, Won, Son, Kim Keon Hee, Song, ryung, Ju, Cheon JinKyung, Kim Myung, Jeong Yoon Hee Organizations: Service, Business, Assembly, Cabinet, National Assembly, Humane, The Associated Press, Farmers, Constitutional, Agriculture, Korea Animal Rights Locations: South Korea, Korea, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, North Korea, Seoul

☆ Asia’s year in review: Who had it good — and who had it bad — in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-22 | by ( Curtis Chin | Jose B. Collazo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

As 2023 comes to a close, we take a look at the year that was in Asia and the Pacific region. But who had it good and who had it bad in 2023? Bad year: China's property marketWith millions of Chinese citizens still waiting for homes they put down payments on — but might never be built — 2023 was a particularly bad year for China's property market. A newly built property is seen from the air in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, China, Dec 15, 2023. Chinese families and individuals who once saw homes as more than somewhere to live but also as investments have reason to fear 2023 won't be the last bad year they face.

Persons: Curtis, Chin, Jose B, —, Vikram, Amit Dave, Narendra Modi, Taylor Swift, Kim Ji, Jennie, Kim Jennie, Roseanne Chae, Lisa, Lalisa, King Charles, Rose, Roseanne Park, Jisoo Kim, Jennie Kim, King Charles III, Yoon Suk Yeol, Kim Keon Hee, Victoria Jones, Blackpink, Michelle Yeoh, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, San Francisco —, China Evergrande, Moody's, Asia's Organizations: Asian Development Bank, RiverPeak Group, ISRO —, Indian Space Research, Orbiter, ISRO, Buckingham, Sustainable, COP26, Getty, YG Entertainment, APEC, U.S, International Monetary Fund Locations: U.S, Asia, Turkey, Syria, Maui, Hawaii, Lahaina, Pacific, India, Gujarat Science City, Ahmedabad, Korea, British, LONDON, ENGLAND, Glasgow, London, England, South Korea, Malaysian, New Zealand, Thailand, China, San Francisco, United States, Taiwan, South China, Country, Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province

HANGZHOU, China (AP) — The Asian Games offer a preview of what could soon be coming to the Olympics. India's women won the gold medal on Monday at the Asian Games, defeating Sri Lanka in the 20-overs format. WORLD RECORDIndia set the first world record of the Asian Games in the 10-meter team rifle event. NORTH KOREA MEDALNorth Korea, appearing in its first international multi-sport event since the 2018 Asian Games, took bronze on Sunday in judo. The Asian Games involves about 12,400 competitors from 45 nations and territories with 481 gold medals on the line.

Persons: That's, Sri Lankans, Minnu Mani, Hashan Tillakaratne, Cricket's, Rudrankksh Patil, Divyansh, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Chae Kwanglin, ___ Organizations: Games, Los Angeles Games, Brisbane, Asian Games, Sri, Bangladesh, ”, Asian, Cricket, Olympic, IOC, Olympics, Paris Games, WORLD, Indian, NORTH KOREA, China Locations: HANGZHOU, China, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, ” Bangladesh, North Korea, CHINA, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia

☆ South Korean Actress Is Found Dead at 26
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A young South Korean actress still early in a promising career was found dead in her home on Tuesday, according to the production company she had been working with. Although no cause of death was disclosed, the episode has renewed concerns about the mental health of young people working in South Korea’s highly competitive entertainment industry. The actress, Jung Chae-yull, 26, is the most recent instance of the phenomenon of celebrities in their 20s dying suddenly. “Actress Chae-yull has left our side on April 11, 2023,” Management S, Ms. Jung’s agency in Seoul, said in a statement on Tuesday. Both Ms. Song and Ms. Jung’s careers had begun only a few years before they died.

☆ Blackstone’s BREIT slump looks nasty but not fatal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investors knocked around $8 billion off Blackstone’s (BX.N) market capitalization on Thursday after it said investors were fleeing a flagship real estate fund. But it’s a nasty black eye for the $125 billion Blackstone Real Estate Investment Trust, one of the private-equity giant’s star earners. The real-estate fund only allows withdrawals of 5% of its net asset value - which stood at $69 billion in November- per quarter. So based on some simple math, the erasure of $8 billion of Blackstone’s market value suggests investors think perhaps half of BREIT’s profit might go up in smoke. BREIT’s terms allow for investor redemptions equivalent to 2% of its net asset value a month, or 5% per quarter.

[1/4] James Gorman, Chairman and Chief Executive of Morgan Stanley, speaks during the Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit in Hong Kong, China November 2, 2022. "It’s a painful transition, but not an unexpected transition," said Gorman, also the bank's chairman, at the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit. It was Hong Kong's biggest corporate event since it shut its borders in 2020 and introduced restrictions to combat COVID-19. Inflation and "very quick" monetary tightening after over a decade of relatively accommodative policies are making the world more volatile and uncertain, said Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon (GS.N). If central banks find a way to tame inflation meaningfully and in a balanced way, it will "increase the chance of a soft landing" for their economies, Solomon said.

HONG KONG, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Hong Kong aims to restore its reputation as a global financial hub by playing host to a bevy of top Wall Street executives this week, defying critics who say a talent crunch and geopolitical tension will hobble its ambition. Alongside the main theme of "navigating through uncertainty", the summit is widely expected to focus on whether Hong Kong can remain a global financial centre after almost three years of border controls and pandemic restrictions. COVID-19 CONTROLSThe two-day summit, organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) - the de-facto central bank - has suffered at least two marquee participants dropping out after contracting COVID-19. Those who make it will look for reassurances of the city returning to pre-pandemic normalcy, making it easier for them to move talent to Hong Kong. Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Kane Wu and Selena Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Washington state woman buried alive by estranged husband manages to escape shallow grave, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Antonio Planas | Antonio Planas Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A Washington state woman who was allegedly buried alive in the woods this week by her estranged husband managed to escape to safety from the shallow grave, authorities said. They also have video of him pulling into the garage with the van and then speeding out of the neighborhood, the probable cause report said. The woman told police she was driven in the van somewhere and then put on the ground outside. … A heavy tree was put on top of her,” the probable cause document said. She said he had told her he would “rather kill her than give her his retirement money,” the probable cause report said.

☆ Global climate change protests demand compensation ahead of COP27
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

They are timed to coincide with global leaders meeting in New York City at the U.N. General Assembly this week. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Read More'DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES'Irreparable damage caused by climate change has heightened developing countries' demands for "Loss & Damage" compensation at COP27 in Egypt in November. "The Least Developed Countries are bearing the brunt of the devastating consequences of climate change," Senegal's environment minister Abdou Karim Sall told a meeting in Dakar last week. The United States and 27-country European Union have historically resisted steps that could require rich nations to pay compensation for causing climate change. Malpass later clarified he was not a climate change denier, after facing a flurry of calls to resign.

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