All posts tagged: South

South Korean activists respond to North’s trash balloons with K-pop

South Korean activists respond to North’s trash balloons with K-pop

Published by Sam

SEOUL — After North Korea recently sent thousands of waste-filled balloons to South Korea, activists here responded with airborne deliveries that the regime up north might find even more despicable than garbage: K-pop and K-dramas. On Thursday, activists in South Korea set aloft 10 large balloons containing thousands of USB drives loaded with local music — including K-pop and trot songs, an old-school South Korean genre experiencing a modern revival — and “Winter Sonata,” a hugely popular romance TV series. Launched after midnight from Pocheon, a city about 30 miles northeast of Seoul, the balloons also carried 200,000 leaflets criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as 2,000 U.S. $1 bills, according to a statement from the Fighters for Free North Korea (FFNK) group, which is led by North Korean defector Park Sang-hak. In a statement, FFNK accused North Korea of “indiscriminately dropping” 15 tons of waste on the South via balloons, calling it “a display of insult and embarrassment for our 50 million citizens.” The South Korean military said that the balloons …

Why South Africa’s ANC wants a national unity gov’t after election setback | Elections News

Why South Africa’s ANC wants a national unity gov’t after election setback | Elections News

Published by Sam

Johannesburg, South Africa — Reeling from its worst electoral performance in 30 years, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday said it would seek to stitch together a “Government of National Unity” to administer the nation. After days of internal debate within the party, President Cyril Ramaphosa told a meeting of the ANC’s top leadership structure, the national executive committee (NEC), late on Thursday, that South Africa was at a moment of “fundamental consequence” and that the country required extraordinary leadership. In last week’s elections, the ANC lost its majority in South Africa’s parliament for the first time since the end of apartheid. “We therefore agreed to invite political parties to form a Government of National Unity as the best option to move our country forward,” Ramaphosa said. In effect, that means that the ANC – instead of entering into a direct coalition agreement with its main rival parties, the market-friendly and right-leaning Democratic Alliance (DA) or the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – will seek a broad multiparty alliance. And while Ramaphosa …

South Africa’s President Announces Intent to Form National Unity Government

South Africa’s President Announces Intent to Form National Unity Government

Published by Sam

Days after his African National Congress party faced historic losses at the polls, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa said on Thursday that he will seek to form a government that includes a wide range of parties, some with starkly opposing views. Led by the A.N.C. since the fall of apartheid, South Africa has been in limbo since the watershed election on May 29 when voters punished the ruling party for failing to address issues like skyrocketing unemployment, regular power outages and high rates of crime. Over the next few days, a weakened A.N.C. will meet with opposition parties to carve out a deal to avoid a hung Parliament — one in which no party or coalition has a majority — in what Mr. Ramaphosa cast as an effort to bring stability to South Africa’s government. “We invite political parties to form a government of national unity as the best option to move our country forward,” Mr. Ramaphosa said in a news conference late on Thursday night. “This moment calls for the broadest unity of …

South Africa to embark on new political path after ANC loses majority | South Africa

South Africa to embark on new political path after ANC loses majority | South Africa

Published by skeptic

The African National Congress’s (ANC) three decades of political dominance in South Africa has come to an end after it was announced that it had won just 40.2% of the vote in last week’s general election. The ANC’s dramatic decline – the first time it has failed to win a majority of the votes since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first democratic election in 1994 – will lead to a chaotic round of coalition negotiations, with all of its potential partners posing difficulties. With ballots from more than 99% of voting stations counted on Saturday afternoon, the ANC had 40% of the vote – a collapse of more than 17 percentage points from the 2019 national elections. The pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) was on 21.7%, while uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), launched only in December by the country’s former president Jacob Zuma, surprised with 14.6%. The constitution says the new parliament must sit within 14 days of results being declared and elect a new president at that sitting. Chronically high unemployment, power cuts, violent …

Why are South Korean babies and children suing their government? | Climate Crisis News

Why are South Korean babies and children suing their government? | Climate Crisis News

Published by Sam

As a 20-week-old embryo, Choi Hee-woo became one of the world’s youngest-ever plaintiffs by joining a landmark climate lawsuit against South Korea. In late May, South Korea’s Constitutional Court held a final hearing of the first case in East Asia to challenge national climate policies. Now 18 months old, Hee-woo and more than 60 other children await a verdict that is expected later this year. So what did their case challenge, and where does South Korea stand with its climate action? What is the children’s climate case in South Korea? South Korea’s Constitutional Court heard landmark cases alleging that the government is failing to protect people in the country from the harms of climate change. Four similar climate cases filed between 2020 and 2023 were combined in February for procedural reasons. The first hearing of the joint case was held in April, while the second and last one was on May 21. The petition involving Hee-woo was called “Woodpecker vs South Korea”, after his nickname in the womb. It was filed by about 200 people, …

Ruling ANC on course to lose majority in South Africa’s election

Ruling ANC on course to lose majority in South Africa’s election

Published by Sam

South Africa’s ruling ANC was on course to lose its 30-year-old parliamentary majority on Thursday, opening the prospect that the party that defeated apartheid will have to share power for the first time.  Issued on: 30/05/2024 – 04:06Modified: 30/05/2024 – 20:44 3 min With a third of votes in Wednesday’s election tallied, the ANC was leading but with a score of only 42 percent — well below the 57 percent it won in 2019. Followed by the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) on 25 percent. The leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and former South African president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) were neck and neck on around nine percent each.  The final results are expected in the next three days. Read moreSouth Africa votes in most crucial election since end of apartheid “The broad church of the ANC has taken a substantial knock. This is a shock to the system for the ANC and ultimately will also be a shock to the system for the average South African, who has only known ANC rule since 1994,” …

South Africans Vote, Many Hoping for Change as Seismic as Mandela’s Rise

South Africans Vote, Many Hoping for Change as Seismic as Mandela’s Rise

Published by Sam

Tension, excitement and uncertainty consumed South Africa on Wednesday as millions cast their ballots in an election that could end the monopoly on power of the African National Congress, the party that has governed since leading the defeat of apartheid 30 years ago. Volunteers with the party worked feverishly to hold onto their majority, shuttling voters to polling stations, extolling the party’s virtues from loudspeakers on pickup trucks and handing out the party’s bright yellow T-shirts. Top party officials chanted alongside these foot soldiers, as if rallying them for battle. Pollsters have widely predicted that the party will win a plurality but draw less than 50 percent of the vote for the first time. If that happens, it will be forced to ally with one or more other parties in order to form a government and remain in power. Voters are electing a National Assembly, which will choose whether to keep or unseat President Cyril Ramaphosa. They are also electing provincial legislators. Results are expected to be announced this weekend. With 51 parties challenging the …

South Africa goes to the polls – in pictures | World news

South Africa goes to the polls – in pictures | World news

Published by skeptic

With the country’s highest rates of unemployment, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality in Eastern Cape province offers a snapshot of the state of South Africa’s housing, employment, poverty, crime, and public service delivery. As the country goes to the polls, many of those voting will be part of the ‘born free’ generation who were born after apartheid ended in 1994. On a visit to Nelson Mandela Bay in December, the photojournalist Ilvy Njiokiktjien spoke to many about their disillusionment with modern South Africa but also their hopes, ingenuity and resilience Source link

South Africa: a nation at the crossroads – in pictures | Global development

South Africa: a nation at the crossroads – in pictures | Global development

Published by skeptic

With the country’s highest rates of unemployment, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality in Eastern Cape province offers a snapshot of the state of South Africa’s housing, employment, poverty, crime, and public service delivery. As the country goes to the polls, many of those voting will be part of the ‘born free’ generation who were born after apartheid ended in 1994. On a visit to Nelson Mandela Bay in December, the photojournalist Ilvy Njiokiktjien spoke to many about their disillusionment with modern South Africa but also their hopes, ingenuity and resilience Source link