Instant Messaging 2019 Market Analysis; By Key Players, Applications, Growth Trends, Share & Segment Forecast to 2025

Unverified claims that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had died after suffering a brain hemorrhage have spread on overseas social media, while North Korean state media reported his visit to a public exhibition. The rumors were reported Tuesday by the British tabloid The Sun, the New York Post and India's Economic Times, which cited social media posts that had claimed Kim suffered a severe brain hemorrhage, fell into a coma and was rushed to a hospital in Beijing. The claims reportedly originated from a post on X by Wanjun Xie, a Chinese dissident based in the United States. In a post Monday, Xie claimed that Kim had suffered a severe brain hemorrhage, lost consciousness and been transferred to Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing because of North Korea's poor medical facilities but died. He also claimed Kim's body had been secretly returned to North Korea and his death was being kept under wraps. No evidence was provided to substantiate the claims. Xie identifies himself as chairman of the Chinese Democratic Party, an organization banned by Chinese authorities, and has circulat

U.S. President Donald Trump cast doubt Monday on whether he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China, but experts say the possibility has not been ruled out and a surprise encounter remains within reach. Asked whether he expected to secure a meeting with Kim on the sidelines of the APEC summit, scheduled for Nov. 18-19 in Shenzhen, Trump gave an equivocal answer. “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know,” he told reporters, before stressing his personal rapport with the North Korean leader. “I’m not sure that anybody’s asking for a meeting. But my relationship with Kim Jong-un is very good.” The remarks tempered expectations Trump himself had been building for months. On Oct. 12, he hinted that he might meet Kim during APEC, saying “That’ll be exciting, won’t it? But I get along with him.” In August, Trump said that he plans to meet the North Korean leader at some point this year. Trump met Kim three times between 2018 and 2019 — first in Singapore in June 2018, then in Hanoi in February 20

South Korea will pull some embassy staff out of Ukraine, citing Kyiv’s failure to take constructive steps to resolve a weekslong dispute sparked by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s disclosure of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to the South, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The decision adds pressure on Kyiv after South Korea recalled Ambassador Park Ki-chang on Oct. 8 over its refusal to acknowledge a confidentiality agreement on the transfer and issue a public apology. Park returned to Seoul on Oct. 10. “The government decided to withdraw some embassy staff, considering Kyiv’s failure to take constructive steps even after our ambassador’s recall, along with persistent airstrike threats across Ukraine that make it difficult to ensure their safety,” foreign ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said at a regular briefing. A ministry offcial said 84 Koreans are in Ukraine, including embassy staff, but did not say how many worked at the embassy and how many of them would leave. He explained that the timing of the partial withdrawal would depend on safety

South Korea's top military officer ordered troops on Tuesday to sternly respond to any enemy provocations, a day after North Korea threatened to deploy more weapons along the inter-Korean border and resume propaganda broadcasts. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Jin Yong-sung gave the directive during his visit to a central front-line unit, slamming Pyongyang for shifting the blame on Seoul for heightened inter-Korean tensions following the Sept. 21 land mine explosion that injured three South Korean troops. "The chairman stated it is unacceptable that North Korea yesterday characterized our legitimate operational measures as a provocation, laying the blame for heightened military tensions on our armed forces," the JCS said in a release. "He ordered troops to respond decisively if the enemy launches further provocations by using our legitimate measures as a pretext," the JCS said. Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said in a statement her country is considering resuming propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts against Seoul and deploying mor

North Korea on Tuesday denounced South Korea's ongoing joint military drills with the United States and a separate exercise between the U.S. and Japan, calling them "muscle flexing" by "enemy states." In an English-language commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the North warned that a "tit-for-tat principle based on strong power will be applied" in response to the military exercises. "The present situation, in which the hostile forces get frantic in their military moves to infringe upon the security interests of the DPRK and undermine the regional strategic stability, highlights the validity and justness of the DPRK's indispensable self-defensive efforts to deter them," it said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The commentary came as South Korea launched the annual Hoguk field exercise involving U.S. forces Monday, while Japan also kicked off large-scale military drills with the U.S., called "Keen Sword," the same day. On the South Korea-U.S. drills, Pyongyang slammed Seoul for not concealing the "aggressive

A 34-year-old man who drove his teenage victims to secluded locations before raping them has been jailed for 17 years.

They claim royal succession settled under custom and state law.

Plans for 100 homes on a commercial orchard, which were refused, are now the subject of an appeal.

Temba Bavuma hits his fifth Test match hundred to put South Africa back in the game.

Trivia buffs, test your knowledge with today’s interactive superquiz.

How to stop wasting your precious pennies on astronomical data bills if you’re jetting off on holiday.

A new padel and leisure centre could be joining an interactive go-karting circuit at a farm.