North Korea, Iran, China.
Today's three stories you should know.
North Korea
North Korea’s parliament, which rarely meets, gathered yesterday and today amid serious concerns about the economy and coronavirus. The country’s leader Kim Jong-un did not attend and the Supreme People’s Assembly session was led by Choe Ryong Hae, chairman of the SPA standing committee. North Korea has been hit hard by Western sanctions and by coronavirus affecting its trade with China. Kim warned in December that the country was facing a “great life-and-death” struggle.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Iran
Negotiations between Iran and world powers over a nuclear deal torn up by Donald Trump in 2018 are set to resume. Russia’s delegate to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted that he believes the negotiations are entering their final stages. Iran wants sanctions against it lifted and the US wants Tehran to stop enriching uranium. Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China are still in the deal with Iran.
More from AP here.
China
An interview with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai at the Winter Olympics in Beijing was met with skepticism today. Peng last November grabbed world attention when she accused a former top Chinese official of sexual assault on social media. The post was almost immediately deleted and Peng disappeared for weeks, causing huge concern in the tennis world. In today’s interview, with France’s L’Equipe newspaper, Peng called the social media post “an enormous misunderstanding.”
More from BBC here.