Kim Jong-un to meet Putin at the end of April; Ukrainian public opinion "leans" towards comedian Zelensky
(Baonghean.vn) - Kim Jong-un will meet Putin at the end of April; Ukrainian public opinion "leans" towards comedian Zelensky; America prepares to publicly report the Russia - Trump investigation; Malaysian Prime Minister is on the list of 100 most influential people in the world... are the world's outstanding news in the past 24 hours.
Kim Jong-un to meet Putin at the end of April
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in late 2018. Photo:KCNA. |
"North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will visit Russia in late April at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin," the Kremlin said in a statement on April 18. Moscow did not disclose the time and location of the meeting, but Russian media said a North Korean official was inspecting a train station in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on April 14 that the North Korean leader will arrive in Vladivostok as early as next week. Meanwhile, President Putin is expected to visit the Far East on his way to China to attend the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum on April 26-27. The meeting between the Russian and North Korean leaders has been planned for a long time. Speculation about a Russia-North Korea summit has increased recently as high-ranking officials from both countries have made back-and-forth visits.
Ukrainian presidential election: Public opinion "leans" toward comedian Zelensky
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| Candidate Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference in Kiev, Ukraine on March 6. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky, a political newcomer, continues to lead the race for Ukraine's presidency, according to a poll released on April 18. The poll by the Reiting polling organization showed Zelensky with 57.9% of the vote and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko with 21.7%. Reiting surveyed 3,000 voters in all regions from April 12 to 16. The previous poll conducted by Reiting from April 5 to 10 showed Zelensky with 61% of the vote while Poroshenko got 24%.
The live and public debate within the framework of the second round of presidential elections between incumbent President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and his opponent, comedian Volodymyr Zelensky, will take place at 7:00 p.m. on April 19 local time at the Olympic National Stadium in the capital Kiev.
US prepares to publicly report on Russia-Trump investigation
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US Attorney General William Barr speaks at the US Congress. Photo:Reuters |
US Attorney General William Barr is expected to release a nearly 400-page report on April 18, excluding tables and appendices, detailing the findings and analysis of special prosecutor Robert Mueller in his investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election, as well as Mueller's reasons for concluding there was no collusion between US President Donald Trump and Moscow.
Under confidentiality rules, some information in the report will be omitted, including grand jury interviews, documents collected by intelligence and evidence related to other investigations. Experts say the release of the documents could be a turning point for the Trump administration, causing new tensions in the US Congress and affecting the 2020 presidential race.
President Maduro: US sanctions make Venezuela stronger
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| Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro participates in a pro-government march in Caracas on February 23, 2019. (Photo: THX/TTXVN) |
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said new US sanctions aimed at restricting Caracas' ability to conduct international financial trade will make the country stronger. According to the Venezuelan leader, the country's Central Bank is capable of overcoming these sanctions.
On April 17, the US imposed new sanctions on Venezuela, targeting the Venezuelan Central Bank and its director. US National Security Advisor John Bolton said the move would send a strong warning to outside actors and prevent them from deploying military assets to Venezuela to support President Maduro.
Malaysian Prime Minister in list of 100 most influential people in the world
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Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. |
After nearly a year in power for his second term, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has been named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. In a brief biography of Prime Minister Mahathir on Time Magazine 100, Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown wrote that the 93-year-old Malaysian leader is a “strong old warhorse who has shone in a fierce election campaign.”
The editor of the newspaper that has reported extensively on the scandal at the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MBD) State Investment Fund stressed: “When fighting for power, you don’t necessarily have to be young… Look at the example of Mahathir Mohamad, who at the age of 92 decided to put his retirement on hold last year to run for office and defeat former Prime Minister Najib Razak.”
US airport employee admits to spying for China
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| Ms. Ying Lin. Screenshot New York Daily News |
An Air China employee who worked at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City has pleaded guilty to working for the Chinese military. Ying Lin, a Chinese-American, admitted to working under instructions from a military attaché at the Chinese permanent representative office at the United Nations in New York, according to court indictments.
Ms. Lin, 48, worked for Air China from 2002 to 2015 at John F. Kennedy Airport and then at Newark Liberty (New York) since April 2016. Ms. Lin said the misconduct began after she was promoted from flight attendant to VIP manager in January 2010. She confessed to secretly smuggling mysterious packages, without security checks, onto planes from New York to Beijing, "at the direction of officials and Air China." In return, the Chinese government allowed Lin to buy duty-free alcohol and electronic devices (which are only privileges for diplomats), according to the indictment.
Russia bans oil exports to Ukraine
Thursday, April 18, 2019 20:20
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According to a VNA reporter in the Russian Federation, on April 18, at a government meeting, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that he had signed a decision to ban oil exports to Ukraine.
This is a response to Kiev's recent move to expand the list of Russian goods banned from import into Ukraine.
Accordingly, Russia banned the export of oil and oil products to neighboring countries, and also created a list of goods that can only be exported with a separate license. This list will take effect from June 1. The Russian Prime Minister said that the list includes energy products such as coal, oil, etc.
In response, Russia also extended the ban on imports of Ukrainian machine-building, light industry, and metal processing products to Russia. These products had a total import value of 250 million USD in 2018.