USA Breaking News

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - In January, thousands of North Korean students traveled to Mount Paektu, a sacred mountain where the ruling family claims its roots and where leader Kim Jong Un is building a massive economic hub at the alpine town of Samjiyon. It is one of the largest construction initiatives Kim has launched, part of his campaign for a "self-reliant economy" even as he seeks to convince U.S. President Donald Trump to lift economic sanctions at their second summit later this month.State media painted an inspiring picture of patriotic students braving harsh weather, eating frozen rice, and ignoring supervisors' worries about their health in order to work harder on the huge building site. Kim has visited Samjiyon, near the Chinese border, at least five times for inspections over the past year. He envisages a "socialist utopia" with new apartments, hotels, a ski resort and commercial, cultural and medical facilities by late 2020, barely four years after Kim ordered … [Read more...] about North Korea’s ‘socialist utopia’ needs mass labor. A growing market economy threatens that

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's two presidential candidates pledged to achieve energy self-sufficiency by boosting the use of bioenergy, particularly fueled by palm oil, to cut costly oil imports by Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, has been pushing for all diesel fuel used in the country to contain biodiesel to boost palm consumption, slash fuel imports, and narrow a yawning current account gap.In a televised election debate, President Joko Widodo said if he won a second term the government planned to implement a B100 program, referring to fuel made entirely from palm oil, after last year making it mandatory to use biodiesel containing 20 percent bio-content (B20). "We hope 30 percent of total palm production will go to biofuel. The plan is clear, so we will not rely on imported oil," Widodo said, adding that Indonesia's crude palm oil production had reached 46 million tonnes a year. Agreeing on the importance of bioenergy for … [Read more...] about Indonesian presidential hopefuls vow energy self-sufficiency via palm

By Charlotte Greenfield WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand will independently assess the risk of using China's Huawei Technologies in 5G networks, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday after a report suggested that British precautions could be used by other nations.Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, faces intense scrutiny in the West over its relationship with the Chinese government and U.S.-led allegations that its equipment could be used by Beijing for spying.No evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has repeatedly denied the allegations, which have led several Western countries to restrict Huawei's access to their markets. The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the British government had decided it can mitigate the risks arising from the use of Huawei equipment in 5G networks. It said Britain's conclusion would "carry great weight" with European leaders and other nations could use similar precautions.New Zealand's intelligence agency in … [Read more...] about New Zealand will conduct own assessment of Huawei equipment risk: PM