Russian presidents hold annual online dialogue; Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un hold summit
(Baonghean.vn) - Russian President holds annual online dialogue; Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un hold summit in Pyongyang; '20 million USD' for plan to 'take the life' of Venezuelan President... are the world's outstanding news in the past 24 hours.
Russian President holds annual online dialogue
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| Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference. Photo: Sputnik |
On June 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin held his 17th annual major press conference to talk to Russians at home and abroad. The head of state directly answered questions of concern to the people, focusing on social welfare measures, pensions, housing, education and health care.
This is the 17th online dialogue between Russian President Putin and people from all over the country. Since 2001, the head of Russia has had 12 dialogues with the people as President and 4 times as Prime Minister.
The studio of the program “Online Dialogue” with Russian President V. Putin is located at the Gaschynnyi Palace. Here, the head of Russia not only directly answers questions, but he can also connect with local leaders and ministers to request answers to questions raised by the people.
Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un hold summit in Pyongyang
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Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Beijing in January. Photo:KCNA. |
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrived at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang on the morning of June 20. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju were welcomed at the airport..Chinese media reported that President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a summit during Xi's official visit to Pyongyang, but did not specify the content of the discussion between the two sides.
Mr. Xi made an official visit to North Korea for two days at the invitation of Kim Jong-un, becoming the first Chinese President to visit Pyongyang since 2005. According to the schedule, after the summit with Kim Jong-un, Mr. Xi will attend a welcoming banquet and watch a performance of traditional musical instruments.
US Secretary of State calls on Russia to prosecute suspects in shooting down MH17
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The scene of the MH17 plane crash in Eastern Ukraine in July 2014. Photo:AFP |
"We call on Russia to ensure that any individuals who are prosecuted while in Russia face justice," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on June 19, referring to suspects accused of shooting down Flight MH17 in 2014, killing nearly 300 people.
The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on June 19 issued arrest warrants and murder charges against three Russians, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy, Oleg Pulatov, and a Ukrainian, Leonid Kharchenko, over the downing of flight MH17. JIT investigators believe they played a role in moving the BUK missile system to eastern Ukraine and shooting down the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the accusations baseless and aimed at discrediting Russia. Moscow stressed that it was ready to "provide full support to the investigation" but was ignored.
'20 million USD' for plan to 'take the life' of Venezuelan President
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| President Maduro at a ceremony honoring his bodyguards in Caracas on June 18. Photo: Reuters |
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the cost of the August 2018 assassination plot against him was $20 million. “The plan to kill me that was carried out in August 2018 cost many millions of dollars, I heard it was $20 million,” President Maduro said during a visit to the Bolivarian Military Academy.
RT reported on June 20 that Venezuela's leader thanked the military and intelligence services for helping to prevent the assassination attempt, praising them for their bravery. Mr. Maduro also emphasized that the military and intelligence services helped save Venezuela's peace.
According to the Venezuelan President, the above plan needed foreign funding and pointed out that Julio Borges, an opposition politician living in exile in Colombia, was the main author of the above assassination attempt.
India is about to surpass China to become the world's most populous country
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Passengers at a railway station in Chennai, India, during rush hour on World Population Day, July 11, 2018. Photo:AFP |
China and India currently account for 37% of the world's 7.7 billion people, with China having about 1.4 billion people and India 1.3 billion. However, according to the United Nations' World Population Prospects 2019 report released on June 17, by 2027, India will have a larger population than China, and by 2050, the gap between the two countries will be quite large.
"From 2019 to 2050, 55 countries or regions are expected to see their populations decline by at least 1%," the report said, citing low fertility rates and high levels of migration in some countries. "In the most populous country, China, the population is expected to decline by 31.4 million, or 2.2%." This means China's population is expected to fall to 1.1 billion, while India's will be 1.5 billion.
By 2050, the report predicts the global population will be 9.7 billion, a staggering increase in just a century. Five years after the United Nations was founded in 1950, the world population was just 2.6 billion.
