South Korea encourages northern uprising

SOUTH KOREA : South Korea’s military performed a series of supply and information drops into North Korea last week, hoping to inform citizens there of the success of revolts in Egypt. Reuters reported that pamphlets were scattered over poorer regions of the North, but that South Korean officials did not think the strictly controlled country would embrace the trend of revolution. At least one analyst questioned whether the concepts of democracy and freedom mentioned in the leaflets would carry any meaning for North Koreans. Medicine, food and radios were also dropped.

Assange extradition ruling

UNITED KINGDOM: A judge ruled last week that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may be extradited to Sweden to face criminal charges, the CBC reported. The ruling took into account the nature of the charges and whether Assange’s human rights would be jeopardized by the move. Assange and his lawyers said they will appeal the decision to a higher court and criticized both the most recent ruling and the European arrest warrant system. Assange, an Australian by birth, was arrested in the UK in December on a Swedish warrant. He is charged with sexual assault against two women.

Christchurch quake recovery continues

NEW ZEALAND: Rescue crews continued to search for bodies last week after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near Christchurch on Feb. 22. While 113 deaths were confirmed as of Feb. 25, many of the 200 people still missing are also feared dead. Among the missing are 90 students and staff of an English school that was on the third floor of a collapsed building. The earthquake destroyed some parts of the city and damaged at least two historical churches. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was part of an aftershock sequence following a much deeper, 7.1-magnitude quake back in September.

China overtakes Japan

CHINA : Data from 2010 shows that China became the world’s second largest economy last year, following only the U.S., which pushed Japan down to third place. Al Jazeera reported that the shift highlights both the quick growth of the Chinese gross domestic product and Japan’s difficult economic situation. Japan, which held the number two spot for 42 years, has suffered in recent years from decreased domestic demand and huge national debt. China has long been the world’s most prolific international trader of goods. China is expected to overtake the U.S. as the largest economy by 2025. On a per capita basis, Japan is roughly 10 times wealthier than China.

Saudi Arabia ’s King Abdullah returns home

SAUDI ARABIA : King Abdullah returned to Saudi Arabia last week after being abroad for three months for medical treatment, the BBC reported. Upon his return, the monarchical leader of the oil-rich country announced an increase to social spending and worker benefits including additional funds to tackle youth unemployment. The new spending also included more than $10 billion towards the Saudi development fund, which offers interest-free loans to help those who want to start a business or get married. Saudi television noted King Abdullah’s importance to stability in a region that has recently seen a number of powerful pro-democracy movements topple entrenched governments.

Published in Volume 65, Number 21 of The Uniter (March 3, 2011)