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North Korea

North Korea Sentences US Citizen To 15 Years Hard Labor

KCNA (North Korea), CNN (USA), BBC NEWS (UK) REUTERS

Worldcrunch

PYONGYANG – U.S. citizen Pae Jun-ho, detained in North Korea since last November, has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, North Korean state news reported on Thursday.

Pae Jung-ho, known in the U.S. as Kenneth Bae, was tried on April 30, for allegedly committing “hostile acts against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” reports the North Korean News Agency.

A senior U.S. official declared that the State Department did not know the exact charges against Mr Pae, CNN reports. Human Rights activists however suggest that he may have been arrested for taking pictures of starving children, Reuters reports.

Mr Pae, 44, entered the country as a tourist last year and was arrested on November 3. The BBC reports that he is believed to be a tour operator who had already been to North Korea several times.

This sentence comes amid high tensions between North Korea and the US, after Pyonyang carried out its third nuclear test earlier this year, and repeatedly threatened the U.S. and South Korea.

Reuters suggests that Mr Pae could be used as a bargaining chip in talks with Washington.

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Economy

The West Has An Answer To China's New Silk Road — With A Lift From The Gulf

The U.S. and Europe are seeking to rival China by launching a huge joint project. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States will also play a key role – because the battle for world domination is not being fought on China’s doorstep, but in the Middle East.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Indian Prime Minister Narendra and U.S. President Joe Biden shaking hands during PGII & India-Middle East-Europe Economics Corridor event at the G20 Summit on Sept. 9 in New Delhi

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Indian Prime Minister Narendra and U.S. President Joe Biden during PGII & India-Middle East-Europe Economics Corridor event at the G20 Summit on Sept. 9 in New Delhi

Daniel-Dylan Böhmer

-Analysis-

BERLIN — When world leaders are so keen to emphasize the importance of a project, we may well be skeptical. “This is a big deal, a really big deal,” declared U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this month.

The "big deal" he's talking about is a new trade and infrastructure corridor planned to be built between India, the Middle East and Europe.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the project as a “beacon of cooperation, innovation and shared progress,” while President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen called it a “green and digital bridge across continents and civilizations."

The corridor will consist of improved railway networks, shipping ports and submarine cables. It is not only India, the U.S. and Europe that are investing in it – they are also working together on the project with Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia is planning to provide $20 billion in funding for the corridor, but aside from that, the sums involved are as yet unclear. The details will be hashed out over the next two months. But if the West and its allies truly want to compete with China's so-called New Silk Road, they will need a lot of money.

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