Day: January 18, 2023

WASHINGTON —  By expressing an interest in acquiring nuclear weapons, South Korea is demonstrating an urgent determination to secure enhanced security assurances from the United States as the nuclear threat from North Korea grows, experts say. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said at a policy briefing on January 11 that Seoul could either build nuclear weapons or have them redeployed to the country to counter Pyongyang. While South Korea has discussed over the years the redeployment of U.S. nuclear weapons, this marked the first time a South Korean president…

Wellington, New Zealand —  Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has called New Zealand’s next general elections for October 14. She said Thursday in Napier she will remain a lawmaker until then. Ardern will step down as prime minister by February 7. She said she had given her “absolute all” during nearly six years in office but didn’t have the reserve to serve another term. Ardern faced a tough election campaign this year. Her liberal Labour Party won reelection two years ago in a landslide of historic proportions, but recent polls have…

Hundreds of refugees are fleeing to safety in India as the Myanmar military intensifies airstrikes in Chin state in Myanmar’s northwest, a refugee aid group told VOA on Wednesday. At least 200 Chin refugees crossed the border last week following airstrikes by the Myanmar military on a key rebel camp on the India-Myanmar border, according to the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO). “Within the first half of this month, the Myanmar junta carried out four airstrikes in Chin state,” Salai Mang Hre Lian, a CHRO program manager, told VOA by…