Kim Jong Un warns of ‘serious consequences’ if virus reaches North Korea Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned top party officials of the “serious consequences” of failing to prevent an outbreak of the new coronavirus in the country, state media reported Saturday. The impoverished nation, with a weak and ill-equipped healthcare system, has closed its borders to prevent the spread of the disease into its territory. Source: Livemint
Naomi Seibt: ‘anti-Greta’ activist called white nationalist an inspiration A young campaigner who has been hailed by climate sceptics as the right’s answer to Greta Thunberg has previously described a white nationalist who appeared to promote “white genocide” theories as one of her “inspirations”. Naomi Seibt, a 19-year-old from Münster, Germany, who styles herself as a “climate realist”, has also had to deny she made remarks that could be seen as antisemitic following an attack on a synagogue last year. Source: The Guardian
Asia Bibi: ‘I kept thinking, what is happening to me?’ Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy, has recounted her ordeal. In 2009, a long-standing dispute with neighbours culminated in a group of local women accusing her of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. She told the BBC’s Mishal Husain that she cried for a week when she was taken to prison. Ms Bibi also recalled how it felt being reunited with her family – and gave her message to Pakistan’s government. Source: BBC
Malaysia’s king appoints Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister Malaysia’s king has appointed seasoned politician Muhyiddin Yassin as the new prime minister, the latest twist to a weeklong political crisis. In a statement issued by the palace on Saturday, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said Muhyiddin, a former interior minister and president of the Bersatu party, will be sworn in on Sunday as he likely commands the most support of any candidate. Source: Aljazeera
PM Modi among special guests invited for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman centenary in Dhaka, says envoy Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the special guests invited for the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka next month, according to Bangladesh High Commissioner to the U.K. Saida Muna Tasneem. The envoy said the celebrations on March 17, which coincide with the 100th birth anniversary of Sheikh Mujib – referred to as “Bangabandhu” or the father of the Bengali Nation – will kick off a year-long series of events in Bangladesh as well as the U.K. Source: The Hindu
Slowdown in India is temporary, govt reforms will pay off: Mukesh Ambani Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance India, believes India’s current slowdown is temporary and he was hopeful that government’s reforms would soon pay off. Ambani said the slump was caused by external turbulence, and the country has reasons to be more optimistic for the next decade. Asia’s richest man lost some $5 billion of his wealth year to date in notional terms. Source: The Economic Times
‘The fighter jet era has passed’: Elon Musk Speaking in front of a crowd of fighter pilots for the US Air Force (USAF), technology entrepreneur Elon Musk pronounced the end to the manned fighter jet era. “The fighter jet era has passed,” says the founder of rocket builder SpaceX and artificial intelligence company OpenAI at the Air Force Association Air Warfare conference in Orlando, Florida on 28 February. The crowd of hundreds, perhaps more than a thousand, fighter pilots went noticeably silent before murmuring among themselves. Source: Fight Global
As coronavirus spreads, world’s richest lose $444 bn after hellish week for markets Last week was an expensive one for most investors, even for billionaires. The combined fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people fell by $444 billion as the coronavirus continued to spread — and spread fear — rattling equity markets worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 12%, the biggest five-day slide since the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, in a rout that vaporized more than $6 trillion from global stocks. The drubbing more than erased the $78 billion in gains that the 500 wealthiest...
President Emmanuel Macron says France facing coronavirus ‘epidemic’ President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France was preparing for a jump in the number of coronavirus cases, adding “we are going to have to deal with it as best we can.” “We are facing a crisis, an epidemic that is coming,” Macron said while visiting staff at the La Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris, where the first French person carrying the new coronavirus died Tuesday. “We know that we’re only at the beginning… we’re going to try with all our caretakers to make the right decisions,” Macron said alongside Health Minister...
‘Trump’s trip demonstrates value US places on ties with India,’ says Mike Pompeo President Donald Trump’s just-concluded India trip demonstrated the value the United Stated placed on its ties with New Delhi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday. Trump’s “first official trip to India this week demonstrates the value the US places on the US-India partnership”, Pompeo said in a tweet, a day after the president returned from his historic two-day visit to India with stops in Ahmedabad, Agra and New Delhi. “Democratic traditions unite us, shared interests bond us, and under the President’s leadership our partnership has...
