Putin's Russia
Moldovan breakaway region asks Russia for 'protection'
The Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria is asking Russia for "protection" from Moldova, AFP reports. The pro-Russian regime claims that Moldova is hurting the region's economy.
On Wednesday, the Transnistrian government held a congress for the first time in 18 years. The news that a congress was underway led many to speculate that the region would ask to be annexed by Russia.
The American think tank ISW recently wrote that Vladimir Putin could, in a worst-case scenario, use his speech in the Duma tomorrow to announce Russia's annexation of the region. However, ISW wrote that such a development is unlikely.
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"Democratic disaster" as New Zealand media is scrapped
American giant Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that it will shut down all media units under the Newshub name, reports AFP. Thus, New Zealand's Newshub Wednesday will also go to the grave in June, which Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters describes as a "disaster for the country's democracy".
Newshub is one of two major players in New Zealand's news TV market and when the channel is now scrapped it will leave public service company TVNZ with what can basically be described as a monopoly.
According to James Gibbons, Warner Bros Discovery's area manager, the closure is due to the fact that the advertising market declined faster than it had time to adjust, which led to unprofitability.
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East Asia's aging population
South Korea's crisis deepens - even fewer babies are born
The fertility rate in South Korea – the country with the lowest birth rate in the world – fell to a new record low in 2023, according to new statistics released on Tuesday shortly after neighboring Japan showed the same trend, writes The Guardian.
Although the South Korean government has invested large sums of money in increasing the number of newborns, the average woman is now expected to give birth to 0.72 children in her lifetime. To maintain its current population size, the number would need to be 2.1.
If things do not change, the population is expected to halve to 26.8 million by the year 2100.
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Japan's birth rate falls further - record low
Japan's birth rate fell to a record low of 758,631 in 2023, government data showed, according to news agency Kyodo News.
It is a five percent decrease since 2022, and the eighth year in a row that the birth rate has fallen.
In total, the population decreased by 831,872, and deaths far outnumbered births – nearly 1.6 million.
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