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South Korea’s Purple Island Boosts Tourism

Angel Gimalo
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South Korea’s Purple Island Boosts Tourism

American media outlets and popular travel guides are shining a light on South Korea’s so-called purple islands.

The towns on these islands in Shinan County, Jeollanam-do Province have been painted in the color of a native flower to boost tourism.

Inspired by the purple of their native balloon flower, residents of the Banwol and Bakji Islands, have painted everything in shades of purple from houses to roads and even bridges.

These tranquil islands, populated by just over a hundred residents, were picked for a tourism project supported by the government.

Since 2015, Shinan County has invested around 4.25 million U.S. dollars to transform the islands into an exotic travel destination.

According to the county office, the initiative has drawn nearly half a million people since the official opening of these islands in 2019 and with the ongoing global pandemic, the islands have become a domestic tourism option for many locals.

Restaurants on the islands offer purple rice and serve food on purple plates while some residents have taken it up a notch and flaunt their purple attires.

“In the morning, I dress up in purple from head to toe, even including my underwear and shoes, and that makes me happy.”

Admission to the islands costs three dollars per person, but those wearing purple can enter for free.

Hot Air Balloon Enthusiasts Participate In New Sport

Angel Gimalo
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0
Hot Air Balloon Enthusiasts Participate In New Sport

Floating above the landscape, colorful hot air balloons took to the Crimean skies.

Hot air balloon enthusiasts gathered to participate in the air biathlon, a new sport gaining steam among balloonists.

Those taking part in the biathlon have to hit targets on the ground with a laser gun, while they approach their marks from the air.

“We’re going to fly – we have targets to hit given by the judge. So coming closer to the target, we take out the gun. And the closer we are to the target the more chances to hit it we’ve got.”

The judge said the race this year was a difficult one as it required good precision and piloting skills due to weather differing from the forecast.

Also, only half of the eleven participants were able to hit their targets.

Supermoon Rises In South Korea

Angel Gimalo
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0
Supermoon Rises In South Korea

The biggest and brightest full moon of 2021 is visible in South Korea.

The supermoon rose at seven-thirty-one PM Tuesday and will set at five-forty-nine AM Wednesday.

A supermoon occurs when the moon moves closest to Earth in orbit while in its “full” phase.

The natural phenomenon was livestreamed on the National Science Museum YouTube channel. According to experts there will be another supermoon on May 26th.

South Korea To build More Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Angel Gimalo
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0
South Korea To build More Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

To expand the charging infrastructure for electric cars in South Korea, auto giant Hyundai Motor recently opened charging stations on major highways across the country.

“Through this ultra-fast 350-kilowatt charging station at a rest stop in Hwaseong City,… electric cars can get their batteries up to 80 percent charged in less than 20 minutes.”

Even with just 5 minutes of charging, the cars are able to travel up to a hundred kilometers.
Starting April 15th, 12 fast EV charging stations equipped with a total of 72 chargers are being opened at rest stops across the nation.

“Starting with this charging station, Hyundai Motor Group plans to boost the electric car charging situation in South Korea. We hope this will help increase the number of electric cars on the roads.”

One driver that uses the facility says he hopes to see more of these charging stations along highways.

“It is convenient because it charges faster than other charging stations.”

Rest stops aren’t the only places that need more electric car charging stations.

An industry expert says it’s also important to have ‘slow charging stations’ in parking lots in apartment buildings so drivers can charge their cars overnight.

“Slow-charging stations should be located in all apartment complexes. No one should feel guilty about having to charge their car for more than 6 hours, or need to worry about going downstairs to allow other people to use the chargers. What’s important is to have the RIGHT kind of chargers in the RIGHT places.”

China Adopts Anti-Espionage Law Against Foreign Infiltration

Zoe Maven
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China Adopts Anti-Espionage Law Against Foreign Infiltration

China has rolled out a new anti-espionage regulation, in which the national security authority will draw up lists of companies and organisations that are susceptible to foreign infiltration.

Li Wei, an expert on national security and anti-terrorism at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the measure places emphasis on companies and institutions taking precautionary measures against foreign espionage.

He said the regulation specifies the responsibilities that companies and institutions must bear to improve the legal system in protecting national security

According to the new regulation, companies, organisations or social groups on the list shoulder the responsibility to roll out detailed measures against foreign espionage.

This would include having staff sign letters of commitment before taking up posts, and reporting their activities related to national security, educating personnel ahead of their departures abroad, and interviewing them after their return to China.

Companies are required that their staff involved in sensitive fields or those holding important files to leave their electrical devices at home and bring new ones abroad.

According to Li, Any companies or institutions within the scope of national defence, diplomacy, economy, finance and high-tech industry should be considered as key fields in terms of possible foreign infiltration,.

Erdogan Urges Biden To Reverse Genocide Statement on Armenia

Zoe Maven
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0
Erdogan Urges Biden To Reverse Genocide Statement on Armenia

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has urged U.S. President Joe Biden to reverse his declaration that the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting Erdogan said that the U.S. president has made baseless, unjust and untrue remarks about the sad events that took place in our geography over a century ago

Erdogan also called for Turkish and Armenian historians to form a joint commission to investigate the events adding that he hoped the U.S. president will turn back from this wrong step as soon as possible.

Biden’s declaration on Saturday infuriated its NATO ally Turkey, which has said the announcement had opened a deep wound in relations already strained over a host of issues.

Erdogan said “the wrong step” would hinder ties, advised the United States to “look in the mirror”, adding that Turkey still sought to establish “good neigbourly” ties with Armenia.

Erdogan also contested the death toll from the 1915 killings and said some 150,000 people had been killed, as opposed to the roughly 1.5 million people Armenia says were killed, adding the toll was “exaggerated by adding a zero to the end.

Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but it contests the figures and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated or constitute a genocide.

Europeans Killed In Burkina Faso After Gunmen Ambush

Zoe Maven
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0
Europeans Killed In Burkina Faso After Gunmen Ambush

Two Spanish citizens and an Irish national who were abducted by gunmen in Burkina Faso have been killed, according to security sources in the country.

Spanish authorities later confirmed that two Spanish nationals had been killed in an ambush on an anti-poaching patrol in eastern Burkina Faso on Monday.

Security reports say the attackers were aboard two pick-up vehicles and a dozen motorbikes, adding that the assailants made off with vehicles and various weapons after the attack.

Foreign Minister Gonzalez Laya told a press conference that the two Spaniards were from northern Spain and were working on a documentary on how Burkina Faso authorities were tackling poaching and on the communities of people living in the wildlife park.

She said they were travelling at the time of the attack in a group with about 40 people, adding that it was a dangerous area where terrorists, bandits, jihadists usually operate.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez addressed the deaths of the two Spanish nationals in a tweeted statement, sending his condolences to the two men’s families which he named as David Beriain and Roberto Fraile.

Numerous other foreign workers have been kidnapped in recent years in the former French colony.

Burundi Begins Releasing Prisoners In Bid To Stop Overcrowding

Zoe Maven
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0
Burundi Begins Releasing Prisoners In Bid To Stop Overcrowding

Burundi has freed at least 1,300 prisoners at a ceremony attended by President Evariste Ndayishimiye, which is part of a presidential pardon, to try free up overcrowded jails.

Warning detainees against a relapse at a prison in Bujumbura, President Ndayishimiye said crimes have in part crippled the country, through offences not sanctioned by the state.

A total of 5,255 inmates, 40 percent of Burundi’s prison population, will be released in the coming weeks. 3,000 will be imminently released and another 2,000 will have their sentences cut.

The detainees, including those arrested in 2015 following the demonstrations against the third term of the late President Nkurunziza, say they are relieved.

They also thanked Ndayishimiye and hope that others will have the same chance.

former prisoner Kabura Muhamed who was one of the beneficiaries, expressed happiness saying this is the first time that a president has come to free the prisoners himself.

Roshan The Camel Delivers Books To Four Villages In Rural Pakistan

Angel Gimalo
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0
Roshan The Camel Delivers Books To Four Villages In Rural Pakistan

Plodding his way through the desert in remote southwest Pakistan, Roshan the camel carries priceless cargo: books for children who can no longer go to school because of coronavirus lockdowns.

The school children, who live in remote villages where the streets are too narrow for vehicles, put on their best clothes and rush out to meet Roshan. They crowd around the animal shouting “the camel is here!”

Pakistan’s schools first closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, and have only opened sporadically since then, with around 50 million school-age children and university students told to continue their education from home. It’s been especially difficult in places like Balochistan, where in many villages internet access is almost non-existent.

Raheema Jalal, a high school principal who founded the Camel Library project with her sister, a federal minister, says she started the library last August because she wanted children around her remote hometown to continue learning despite schools being closed.

The project is a collaboration with the Female Education Trust and Alif Laila Book Bus Society, two NGOs that have been running children’s library projects in the country for 36 years.

Roshan carries the books to four different villages in the district of Kech, visiting each village three times a week and staying for about two hours each time. Children borrow books and return them the next time Roshan visits.

“I like picture books, because when I look at the pictures and the photographs, I can understand the story better,” nine-year-old Ambareen Imran said.

Jalal hopes to continue and expand the project to cover more villages, but needs funding: around $118 a month is needed now each month for Roshan.

Murad Ali, Roshan’s owner, says he was taken aback when he was first contacted about the project, but thought camels were the sensible mode of transport.

He enjoys the trips and seeing the happy children and still earns as much as he used to when he transported firewood.

Protests Rock N’Djamena As Chadians Demand Civilian Rule

Zoe Maven
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0
Protests Rock N’Djamena As Chadians Demand Civilian Rule

At least five people have been killed in violent protests in Chad on Tuesday as demonstrators took to the streets demanding a return to civilian rule after the military took over government last week.

The capital’s prosecutor Youssouf Tom said there were four deaths in N’Djamena,” including “one killed by the demonstrators, while another person was killed in a separate incident in the country’s second city Moundou, some 400 kilometres south of N’Djamena.

Tuesday’s unrest highlights the tense atmosphere following Deby’s death in Chad, where the military transition is already struggling to win over a wary population.

Some opposition politicians have called the military takeover a coup and asked supporters to protest, even as the army appointed a civilian politician, Albert Pahimi Padacke, as prime minister of a transitional government on Monday.

The military council banned protests in a statement Monday evening, saying no demonstrations that could lead to disorder were allowed while the country was still in mourning.

However, the council, headed by Deby’s son Mahamat Idriss Deby who was declared president, has said it will oversee an 18-month transition to elections.

Meanwhile, the African Union has expressed “grave concern” about the military takeover, while France, the former colonial ruler, and some of Chad’s neighbours are pushing for a civilian-military solution.

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