World last week - featured news

(Baonghean.vn) - Russian President Putin meets US Secretary of State Tillerson; US drops “mother of all bombs” on Afghanistan;Korean Peninsula on the brink of war; Arrest of suspect in murder of Vietnamese girl in Japan;... are the outstanding world news of the past week.

1. Russian President Putin meets US Secretary of State Tillerson

Mr. Putin and Mr. Rex Tillerson used to have a close relationship. Photo: Politico.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has just had a face-to-face meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, after a 3-hour meeting with Mr. Lavrov, Secretary of State Tillerson had a meeting with President Putin.

Mr. Peskov refused to reveal what was discussed during the meeting between President Putin and the US Secretary of State, however, many experts believe that the differences between Russia and the US on the Syria issue were the main focus.

This was a rather unexpected meeting because a few days ago, spokesman Peskov said that President Putin would not receive Secretary of State Tillerson when he visited Russia on April 11 and 12.

2. Korean Peninsula on the brink of war

The whole world is “sitting on pins and needles”, watching every move of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: Chin Cable Network

The situation on the Korean peninsula is evolving rapidly amid confrontation and mutual threats between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The whole world is "sitting on pins and needles", watching the "every move" of these two leaders, because just a "small spark" can explode the "powder keg" in Northeast Asia.

3.US drops “mother of all bombs” on Afghanistan

A GBU-43/B bomb is dropped during a test at a US air base in 2003. Photo: Getty.

On April 13, the US dropped the most powerful non-nuclear bomb, the GBU-43/B, to destroy targets of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan. According to US officials, this was the first time this type of weapon was used in combat.

The GBU-43/B is known as the “mother of all bombs”. This bomb was dropped from an MC-130 transport plane into Afghanistan at 7:32 p.m. (local time), is about 9.1 meters long and weighs nearly 10,000 kg.

The target of the attack was an IS cave and tunnel system in Achin district, Nangarhar province, a remote area bordering Pakistan.

4.North Korea holds massive military parade to celebrate leader's birthday

Military branches and large numbers of North Korean people participated in a grand military parade in the capital Pyongyang.

On the morning of April 15, in the capital Pyongyang, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea solemnly held a military parade to celebrate the 105th birthday of late President Kim Il Sung.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared at the ceremony. This year's parade, in addition to the military branches as in previous years, also featured the appearance of submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

Live footage on North Korean state television showed the Pukkuksong-2 missile being loaded onto a truck as it prepared to pass the stage where Kim Jong Un and other leaders were attending.

5. Russia - Iran - Syria threaten to retaliate against the US

Photo: Independent.

After the US launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at an airport in Syria on April 7 in response to the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun earlier this week, the coalition supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a joint statement threatening to respond to "any violation of the red line, no matter who it is."

"What the US has launched in Syria is crossing a red line. From now on, we will respond with force to any aggressor or violator of that limit, no matter who it is. The US knows how well we can respond," Independent quoted a statement from the joint operations center of the three countries.

6. Arrest of suspect in murder of Vietnamese girl in Japan

Shibuya Yoshimasa is working at a real estate leasing company. In addition, the suspect was once the President of the Parents' Association of the school Nhat Linh is attending.

On April 13, Japanese police arrested a man in his 40s on suspicion of dumping the body of Le Thi Nhat Linh. The suspect lived near Linh's house.

The suspect arrested is Yasumasa Shibutani, 46, who works at a real estate leasing company. The arrest warrant was issued after his DNA was found to match a DNA sample found at the scene where Linh's body was found.

According to the police. Yasumasa Shibutani was arrested in connection with the dumping of the body, but it is not certain that he was the culprit in the murder of the Vietnamese girl. Mr. Shibutani used to work at checkpoints on the way to school for students.

7. Malaysia postpones trial related to murder of North Korean citizen

Suspect Doan Thi Huong was escorted into the Sepang court on the morning of April 13. The trial was later adjourned and postponed to May 30. Photo: Reuters

On the morning of April 13, two suspects in the murder case of a North Korean citizen with a passport named Kim Chol were taken to court in Sepang by a special vehicle of the Special Forces Against Organised Crime (STAFOC) with the escort of traffic police and patrol police.

About 100 police officers, including special forces armed with assault rifles, were deployed to guard the court area. At the hearing, Judge Harith Sham Mohamed Yasin announced the decision to postpone the interrogation of the defendants until May 30 due to insufficient documents. Thus, the case has not been transferred to the Shah Alam High Court.

8. Protest against attack on Syria

A protest against the US missile strike on Syria in Los Angeles.

“Emergency” protests took place in at least 12 cities across the United States on April 7. The Action Alliance to End War and Racism (ANSWER) organized widespread calls for protests on social media.

The organization called the US confirmation that the Syrian government carried out attacks on its own people "unfounded" and demanded an independent investigation.

ANSWER is calling for protests to continue through the weekend to "demand an end to the war against Syria".

9. United Airlines causes outrage due to rude treatment of passengers

United Airlines of the US caused public outrage when its staff dragged a passenger off a plane on April 11.

A video shared online by other passengers on the flight shows a Vietnamese-American male passenger screaming loudly as staff members violently tried to pull him from his seat. Images of the passenger bleeding from the mouth and blood on his glasses were shared on social media, along with criticism of United Airlines.

Peace

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