Kim Jong-nam killing: Malaysia airport terminal declared safe
The airport terminal where the half-brother of North Korea's leader was killed with a nerve agent has been declared free of any "hazardous material" by Malaysian police.
Security teams in protective suits had earlier swept the area.
Malaysia's health minister said that an autopsy suggested the toxin used to kill Kim Jong-nam caused "very serious paralysis".
Tests show Mr Kim was killed with the highly toxic nerve agent VX.
An Indonesian woman arrested for the murder has said she was given 400 Malaysian ringgit ($90; £72) to carry out a prank.
Siti Aisyah, 25, told Indonesian embassy officials that she was given the cash to smear Kim Jong-nam's face with "baby oil" as part of a reality show joke.
Opinion: The new war of words in the Balkans
From Belgrade and Banja Luka to Pristina, politicians are again speaking of war and division. But they are the words of political losers, running out of arguments to justify their hold on power, writes Frank Hofmann.
Milorad Dodik has been blacklisted by the US government for obstructing the implementation of the Dayton Agreement. The president of Republika Srpska, the autonomous region of the small Balkan nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been touting the separation of the territory he rules. He seems to be enjoying the attention from US diplomats, as it may actually support his image as the alleged savior of the Serbs. Now he is seeking validation in the form of a referendum for independence.
Thinking the rhetoric through to the end
If someone is to understand what is behind the politics, it is helpful to think through the consequences to the end. If the autonomous region of Republika Srpska were to separate from Bosnia and Herzegovina, one can probably expect that other half of the country, which is made up of Bosniak and Croatian minorities, will protest. The consequence would be a conflict that would likely entail bloodshed. In a short matter of time, Bosnian police forces would be overwhelmed. As a result, the EUFOR Althea forces stationed at the airport of Sarajevo would probably request reinforcement.
New Islamic State group call to violence sparks panic among Copts
An IS group video targeting Coptic Christians, the discovery of a shoulder-fired missile launcher near Cairo airport and recent killings have raised fears of widening terrorist activity in Egypt and resulted in Sinai Copts fleeing their homes.
The Islamic State group released a video last Sunday declaring it would specifically target Christians in Egypt.
The recording featured the final statement of a man they said was responsible for the December 13 suicide bombing of Egypt’s main Coptic Christian Cathedral in which nearly 30 people—mostly women and children—were killed. Calling Copts their “favourite prey,” the video called on IS group sympathisers to attack them on sight, and pledged to bring the fight to the streets of Cairo.
Philippine protesters condemn drug war on anniversary of uprising
By Buena Bernal, For CNN
Thousands of Filipinos took to the streets Saturday to mark the anniversary of the 1986 uprising against Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos amid concerns of an authoritarian relapse under current President Rodrigo Duterte.
Crowds gathered on a highway in Manila, the same area that millions flocked to 31 years ago in a peaceful revolt that led to Marcos' ouster.
The so-called People Power Revolution three decades ago attracted government leaders, church groups and civilians in a series of protests that ended Marcos' 14-year military rule marred by human rights violations.
Edge of darkness: looking into the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way
It would take a telescope as big as a planet to see the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. But a team of scientists think they know how to do it
At the heart of our galaxy, a vast black hole is devouring matter from the dust clouds that surround it. Little by little, expanses of interstellar material are being swallowed up by this voracious galactic carnivore that, in the process, has reached a mass that is 4m times that of our sun.
The Milky Way’s great black hole is 25,000 light years distant, surrounded by dense clusters of stars, shrouded by interstellar dust and, like all other black holes, incapable of emitting light.
Yet scientists believe they will soon be able to take a photograph of this interstellar behemoth – an extraordinarily ambitious feat that will involve the creation of a radio telescope that has the effective size of our entire planet and whose operation will involve scientists from four continents.
Is Abe attempting to fuse the church and state?
BY MICHAEL HOFFMAN
SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES
It was morning in the land of the gods. “The mountains and the waters serve our sovereign,” wrote a seventh-century poet. “And she (Empress Jito), a goddess, is out on her pleasure-barge upon the foaming rapids.”
Lovely times those must have been. If only they could have lasted. But morning dew evaporates, children grow up, nations shed their divinity and “our sovereign” commands “the mountains and the waters,” if at all, in vain.
Japan’s monarchy claims the oldest royal lineage in the world. The reigning Emperor is, theoretically and maybe even historically, Empress Jito’s descendant. So tangible a link to so remote a past is no doubt a factor in a deeply conservative strain in the national character.
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