Attorney General Tarek William Saab gave the death toll in the pre-dawn mayhem at the police headquarters in northern Carabobo state, blaming a fire thought to have been started deliberately.

Carlos Nieto, head of a prisoners’ rights group called Una Ventana a la Libertad (A Window on Freedom), said that some prisoners burned to death and others choked after setting fire to mattresses and stealing a guard’s gun in an attempt to break out.

The dead included two women who were visiting the jail, the attorney general said, adding that four prosecutors have been named to investigate.

Photos taken by Nieto’s group showed the body of a man with burns and firefighters trying to put out flames.

Relatives of those being kept in the detention center tried to force their way in. After one officer was injured by a tossed stone, the crowd was dispersed by police firing tear gas.

A video posted on Twitter showed dozens of people demanding information in front of police guarding the site. Women were seen crying.

“I am a desperate mother. My son has been here a week. They have not given any information,” Dora Blanco told local media.

Local news correspondents wrote on Twitter that the facility was tense Wednesday night.

– Dire prison conditions –

Venezuela’s prisons suffer from dire overcrowding and a shortage of basic supplies, struggling under the deepening economic crisis that is gripping the once-wealthy oil-producing country.

Because of the lack of space in penitentiaries, convicts are often sent to police holding cells like the ones in Carabobo, meant to be used as temporary pens for suspects facing charges or court hearings, where detainees are supposed to spend a maximum of 48 hours.

Nieto’s association estimated that the temporary detention centers were overfilled by five times their capacity.

And what happened Wednesday in Carabobo is not an isolated incident, he added.

“All the police stations in Venezuela are facing similar or worse conditions of overcrowding, lack of food and disease,” he said.

The association said 65 people died last year in the holding cells due to violence, malnutrition or tuberculosis.

Two weeks ago, 58 detainees escaped holding cells on Margarita Island, a favored tourist spot, after punching a hole in their facility’s wall. They were all soon recaptured.

In August 2017, a riot left 37 dead and 14 wounded in police cells in the southern state of Amazonas, while an April 2017 clash between rival gangs left 12 dead and 11 injured in the Puente Ayala prison in the eastern city of Barcelona.

A month before that, the remains of 14 people were found in a mass grave in the General Penitentiary of Venezuela, in San Juan de Los Morros in the country’s center.//AFP

“According to the will of both leaders, the South and North agreed to hold the ‘2018 South-North summit’ on April 27 at the South’s Peace House in Panmunjom,” said a joint press statement, read out in turn by both delegations’ leaders.

The meeting between Kim Jong Un, leader of nuclear-armed North Korea, and the South’s President Moon Jae-in will be only the third of its kind, and will be followed by landmark talks with US President Donald Trump which could come as early as May.

The venue will make Kim the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South since the end of the Korean War — although according to Pyongyang’s official accounts, during the conflict his grandfather and predecessor Kim Il Sung went several times to Seoul, which twice fell to his forces.

The two sides did not settle on the summit agenda at Thursday’s meeting in the Unification Pavilion on Panmunjom’s northern side, but the South’s delegation leader Cho Myoung-gyon told reporters they agreed Kim and Moon should be able to hold “frank discussions on all matters”.

That would include the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, Cho said.

The leader of Pyongyang’s delegation Ri Son Gwon added: “What the people want is our agenda.”

Another round of working-level talks next Wednesday will discuss issues including protocol and security.

Next month’s meeting comes after previous inter-Korean summits in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007, since when the North has made extensive progress in its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

It has been subjected to multiple rounds of sanctions by the UN Security Council, US, South and others as a result, and tensions in the region have soared, with Kim and Trump engaging in a fiery war of words last year.

But a rapid rapprochement on the peninsula was kicked off by the Winter Olympics in the South and events have moved quickly since then, with a flurry of official visits between the two Koreas.

An advance team of Southern performers headed north on Thursday ahead of K-pop concerts in Pyongyang.

– Kim-Xi meeting –

Beijing welcomed Thursday’s developments, with foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang saying improved relations between the Koreas “will help promote regional peace and stability”.

“We believe it serves their mutual interests as well as the regional situation,” he added.

China’s top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, arrived in Seoul Thursday to brief Moon and other officials on Kim’s secretive visit to Beijing this week to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time.

It was the North Korean leader’s first overseas trip since inheriting power following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.

China has long been the North’s key diplomatic defender and provider of trade and aid, but relations have been strained by Pyongyang’s weapons programmes, with Beijing showing a new willingness to implement UN sanctions against it.

Even so the two leaders hailed their nations’ historic ties, with Xi accepting Kim’s invitation to visit Pyongyang, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

“There is no question that my first foreign visit would be to the Chinese capital,” it quoted Kim as saying, calling it a “noble obligation”.

Kim pledged that he was “committed to denuclearisation” on the Korean peninsula, according to China’s Xinhua news agency — but added this would depend on South Korea and the US taking what he called “progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace”.

Analysts say both sides had reason to hold the meeting — Pyongyang to secure Beijing’s backing and support, and China to protect its interests in what it considers its backyard.

Robert Kelly, a professor at Pusan National University in South Korea, said: “Xi would not grant this meeting unless the Chinese were genuinely concerned about the summits to come and wanted some kind of role to play.”

The South’s JoongAng Daily newspaper said in an editorial Thursday that the meeting “makes the situation more complicated because Xi stepped into the negotiation all of a sudden”.

“China will not simply look on,” it added.//AFP

Ri Sol-ju, the mysterious young wife of the totalitarian leader and a former star singer, was filmed by state television in at least three different outfits during their two-day stay in Beijing.

William Tang Tat-chi, a Hong Kong fashion designer, said the style was “subtle” but not conservative.

The Beijing visit was a rare public appearance by Ri in a diplomatic setting as she has mainly been seen at domestic events.

Many Chinese internet users praised Ri’s looks and compared her style to that of Peng Liyuan, China’s first lady, before censors rolled on to remove nearly all discussions from social media platforms.

“Ri Sol-ju is indeed beautiful and amiable. I can tell she would be good at ‘first-lady diplomacy’, better than Kim’s sister,” one internet user commented on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of Kim Jong-un, recently represented the country at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, and there had been speculation that she was the mystery visitor to Beijing before her brother’s presence was confirmed.

Another commented that Ri had “a powerful presence”, looking prettier than Peng, even though Peng dressed more fashionably.

Others compared Ri’s look with that of South Korean celebrities, saying she was “as pretty as Song Hye-kuo”, an actress widely popular in China.

Ri remains an enigmatic figure and little is known about her for certain. Kim announced their marriage in 2012, and some analysts believe Ri was born in September 1989, making her 28 years old.

She is believed to have given birth to three children and some reports have suggested she had a career as a singer before her marriage.

In the welcoming ceremony, Ri wore a camel cropped jacket with a matching midi skirt and a pair of nude pumps.

She also wore a necklace, a pair of tiny ear studs and a big shiny pink and gold butterfly-shaped brooch, with her hair draped on her back, to finish off a calm, energetic and clean-cut look.

Peng, a famous singer in her own right, was dressed in a white coat dress with dramatic black ink patterns during the ceremony.

During a visit to the Chinese Academy of Science, Ri wore a white jacket and an apple green dress with a brown flower-shaped ribbon brooch and a nude leather clutch.

At a lunch with Xi and Peng at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where Kim stayed, Ri changed to an elegant ivory two-piece dress with flowery decorations on the collar and soft frilled sleeves.

Tang said although the style of Ri’s two looks were “outdated”, it was still impressive considering she came from a totalitarian country where access to fashion is limited to common people.

Search results of “Ri Sol-ju” remained blocked on Weibo as of midday Wednesday, and most of the comments under news reports of the pair’s trip had been removed.

Rozita Mohamad Ali, 44, will now have to serve an eight-year jail sentence for causing grievous hurt to her domestic helper Suyanti Sutrinso, 21, at a house in Mutiara Damansara on June 21, 2016.

Judge Datuk Seri Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah also rejected the defence counsel’s plea for a stay of execution and ordered Rozita to serve her sentence beginning Thursday (March 29).

Rozita’s defence counsel Haniff Khatri Abdulla said his client was willing to have her passport impounded and to adhere to any other additional conditions imposed.

Dressed in black from head to toe, Rozita appeared calm and had an in-depth discussion with her platoon of lawyers led by Haniff Khatri.

Before she was handcuffed and led out of the court, she pinned part of her headscarf to cover the lower part of her face.

Rozita was initially charged under Section 307 of the Penal Code with attempted murder, which was later amended to Section 326 of the Penal Code for causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means.

She had pleaded guilty to the charge.

She had used a kitchen knife, a steel mop and an umbrella to attack her maid Suyanti at a house in Mutiara Damansara on June 21, 2016.

She was bound over for five years on a good behaviour bond of RM20,000 on March 15 by Sessions Court judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar.

However, the lenient sentence was criticised by members of the public who demanded she be duly dealt with for abusing Suyanti.

Yousafzai — accompanied by her father Ziauddin, Farah Mohamed and Amiro­byn Thompson — flew in aboard flight No EK-614.

Sources said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi would receive the 20-year-old Malala at the PM Office where she would attend a special function to mark her achievements as an activist for girls education.

Due to security reasons, the sources said, her visit and her entire itinerary was being kept secret.

In December 2014, Ms Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi of India received the Nobel Peace Prize for risking their lives to fight for children’s rights.

Ms Yousafzai, who belongs to Swat, has been living in the UK since October 2012. She was shifted from Pakistan to a hospital in Birmingham in a precarious condition after she had sustained a bullet in her head in a targeted attack by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Swat. She was on her way home in a school van with other girls after taking an exam when the TTP men opened fire on them. Two other girls also sustained gunshot wounds.

The attack on the schoolgirls received widespread criticism at the national and international levels as Ms Yousafzai received sympathies and support from across the world.

Responding to the condemnation, the TTP denounced Malala Yousafzai, compelling her to stay back in the UK due to security concerns.

After her recovery, Ms Yousafzai announced launching a movement for the promotion of girls’ education. She visited a number of countries as official guest where she was warmly welcomed and given an official protocol and reception. During a visit to Canada last year, she was provided an opportunity to address the country’s parliament.

In April 2017, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres selected Malala Yousafzai to be a UN messenger of peace, the highest honour bestowed by the UN chief on a global citizen.

Kim is due to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in next month, followed by landmark talks with US President Donald Trump which could come as early as May.

Cho Myoung-gyun, Seoul’s unification minister and the leader of its delegation to Thursday’s meeting, said that setting a date for the third-ever summit between the two Koreas was a key agenda item.

“We will have good discussions with the North to successfully hold the inter-Korea summit in April,” Cho told reporters.

The rapid rapprochement on the peninsula was kicked off by the Winter Olympics in the South and comes after a year of heightened tensions over the North’s nuclear and missile programmes, which saw Kim and Trump engage in a fiery war of words.

Events have since moved rapidly, with a flurry of official visits between the two Koreas before Kim went to Beijing this week to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time.

Three-member delegations from the two Koreas were to meet at the Unification Pavilion building on the northern side of the border truce of village of Panmunjom to discuss the agenda for next month’s summit.

Pyongyang’s delegation is led by Cho’s counterpart Ri Son Gwon, who is chairman of the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country.

Also Thursday, China’s State Councillor Yang Jiechi, the country’s top diplomat, was due in Seoul to brief Moon on Kim’s secretive visit to Beijing.

It was the North Korean leader’s first overseas trip since inheriting power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.

China has long been the North’s key diplomatic defender and provider of trade and aid, but relations have been strained by Pyongyang’s weapons programmes, with Beijing showing a new willingness to implement UN sanctions against it.

Even so the two leaders hailed their nations’ historic relations, with Xi accepting Kim’s invitation to visit Pyongyang, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

“There is no question that my first foreign visit would be to the Chinese capital,” it quoted him as saying, calling it a “noble obligation”.

Kim pledged that he was “committed to denuclearisation” on the Korean peninsula, according to China’s Xinhua news agency — but added that it was dependent on South Korea and the US taking what he called “progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace”.

Analysts say that both sides had reasons for the meeting — Pyongyang to secure Beijing’s backing and support, and China to protect its interests in what it considers its backyard.

Robert Kelly, a professor at Pusan National University in South Korea, said: “Xi would not grant this meeting unless the Chinese were genuinely concerned about the summits to come and wanted some kind of role to play.”

Kim made a surprise visit to Beijing from Sunday to Wednesday during which he reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearization and showed willingness to hold a summit with the US, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.

North Korea needed to repair long-strained ties with China — its traditional ally and biggest trading partner — to bolster its bargaining power ahead of summits with South Korea at the end of April and with the US by the end of May, experts say.

“I think North Korea wanted to have ‘insurance’ against the upcoming summit with the US and check how much China is willing to protect North Korea’s interests,” said Shin Beom-chul, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. “North Korea probably wanted to show that it has an ally.”

Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University, shared the view.

“Gven its traditional alliance with China, North Korea would have wanted to discuss the situation with China,” he said. “If its talks with the US turn out well, it needs China’s economic assistance. If the talks fail, North Korea still needs China to ease up on sanctions.”

The two countries have been “blood allies” since the 1950-53 Korean War, when Mao Zedong sent troops to support Kim’s grandfather Kim Il-sung. China has long tried to keep North Korea as a buffer state between it and South Korea, home to 28,500 US troops.

But their relations have frayed in recent years, as China enforced international sanctions against North Korea over the reclusive regime’s pursuit of nuclear and missile programs. North Korean exports of coal, seafood and other sources of currency have been hampered by the sanctions.

The North Korea-China summit was an expected event that might have been planned long before Kim Jong-un’s peace overture to South Korea and the US, said Kim Dong-yub, professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies. And it happened to be held ahead of the Pyongyang-Washington summit.

“Both Kim and Xi Jinping needed to build a stable external environment to stabilize their respective regimes after they solidified their power at home,” he said. China’s Xi was recently re-elected as president and North Korea’s Kim declared the completion of its nuclear weapons programs.

Kim’s trip is also in China’s interest, other experts say. China has been worried about losing influence over North Korea’s nuclear issue, as it competes with the US for power in Asia, and it would have wanted to dismiss concerns that it was being sidelined in negotiations between the Koreas and the US.

“It is a win-win for China, too. With China’s President Xi Jinping tightening his grip over the country, his next challenge is to expand his clout on the matter of the Korean Peninsula,” said Jung Jae-hung, a researcher at the Sejong Institute. “Especially as it is facing conflicts over bilateral trade with the US.”

China’s parliament unanimously re-elected Xi as president earlier this month, and the National People’s Congress, which recently ended its 16-day meeting, revoked term limits for Xi.

But complicating the situation is Kim’s remarks made during his trip to China.

“The issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be resolved, if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realization of peace,” Kim was quoted as saying by China’s Xinhua Agency.

Hong Min, director at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said that the “progressive and synchronous measures” could mean the US’ assurance about the survival of the North Korean regime.

“North Korea appears to be sending a message to the US that it is serious about its commitment to denuclearization if its security is guaranteed, as the US is filling its national security team with hard-liners who are suspicious about North Korea’s intention,” said Hong.

But North Korea’s demand of “progressive and synchronous measures” from South Korea and the US in tandem with its action to denuclearize signals a tough road ahead in the upcoming negotiations among the countries, others warn.

Park Won-gon, a professor at Handong University, pointed out that Kim’s remark shows that China and North Korea remain far apart from the US and South Korea on how to achieve denuclearization.

China has repeatedly emphasized that it supports a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, and has suggested a freeze-for-freeze solution to the current crisis, suggesting North Korea suspend nuclear and missile tests, and South Korea and the US suspend military drills at the same time.

The US has led a maximum pressure campaign against North Korea, demanding North Korea first abandon its nuclear and missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner before normalization of its relationship with North Korea and loosening of sanctions against it can take place.

“North Korea probably wanted China to play a role in easing the US’ pressure against it in the upcoming denuclearization talks as it is desperate to make a breakthrough in the negotiations with the US,” Park said.

Trump is making it clear that the US will not back down from its position. He tapped John Bolton as his new national security adviser. The former US ambassador to the United Nations is known for his hard-line stance advocating the use of military force against North Korea. He also replaced Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Mike Pompeo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, who has floated the possibility of a strike against North Korea as well as a regime change.

In total, there are 35.1 million people born outside of 28 EU countries living in EU.  Almost, 20.6 % of them are of Asian origin. The largest number of foreign born residents are living in Germany (8.7 million), as per the latest data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office.

People from Morocco and Turkish origin are the largest among the foreign born population in Europe. While Turkish born people number 2.08 million, Moroccan origin people form the largest pool of foreign born Europeans at 2.3 million.

Russians, Algerians and Ukrainians also have a substantial presence in the European Union countries. As per Eurostat, there are 1.8 million Russians currently living in the EU. People from Algeria and Ukraine number 1.5 and 1.1 million respectively. People from Bosnia, Albania and Kazakhstan, while being shy of one million in number, stood at 0.95million, 0.9 million and 0.87 million respectively.

India has a long and historical relationship with different EU countries and over 1 million people from India have made the European Union their home.  Chinese and Pakistan born people living in the EU states outnumber those born in America. There are 0.82 million Chinese-born , 0.74 million Pakistani-born and 0.58 million American-born  living in the EU region.

The Europe remains top destination for immigrants due to its economic opportunities, pluralistic approach and equality with the goal of ensuring an open, tolerant and equal society for all.  The Europe also provides added advantage of free movement across member countries.

Sochua fled Cambodia following the September arrest of opposition party leader Kem Sokha on charges of treason after receiving word from a government official that her own arrest was imminent. Their party – the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the nation’s only credible opposition – was forcibly dissolved by the Supreme Court just over a month later.

Speaking in Ottawa on Tuesday (yesterday Thailand time), Sochua repeated calls for targeted sanctions, warned foreign investors not to pour their money into the country, asked for a special Canadian delegation to visit Cambodia and pressure on lawmakers.

“Your money is not safe,” she said of Canadian investors in Cambodia. “You are contributing to the disaster, to the death of Cambodia as far as democracy is concerned.”

She spoke of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s determination to hold the national election on July 29 and urged Canada to take “immediate” action, as parties wanting to register for the election must do so by the end of April.

“We don’t have actually four months. We have four weeks. But yet, it doesn’t mean time is up … The election day can be pushed back,” she said.

“We want to go back so we can put Cambodia back on track. We have no more time to lose.”

She further urged Canada and others in the international community to disavow the legitimacy of an unfair election.

“The government of Cambodia that is born from that kind of election will not be recognised,” she said.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan said it was highly unlikely the election date would be shifted, as the premier had publicly committed to holding the national poll at the end of July.

“No delay at all. The prime minister said it,” Siphan said.

He added that Sochua’s appeal to Canadian investors “won’t work”.

“Investors, they really like to invest in Cambodia because of stability, because of peace,” he said.

Kingsley Abbott, from the International Commission of Jurists, also addressed the subcommittee about the “crisis” unfolding in Cambodian courts and the weaponisation of the law to achieve political ends.

    Win Myint, 66, had been tipped for the role after former president Htin Kyaw suddenly stepped down last week, citing the need for rest.

Suu Kyi is barred by the military-drafted constitution from the presidency because she was married to a foreigner and has two sons who are British citizens. She has instead served as state counsellor since her party’s landslide 2015 election victory, declaring she would work “above” the president.

But her position has no official constitutional role.

That makes it crucial for her to have a compliant friend as president as she manages an often fraught power-sharing arrangement with the still powerful military, which ruled the country for almost half a century.

“I hearby announce that U (honorific) Win Myint, who obtained the majority of votes, is elected as President of the State,” said parliament speaker Mann Win Khaing Than.

Win Myint, who resigned as lower house speaker last week, swept up nearly two thirds of the votes in a parliament dominated by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

He beat two opponents, including the military-backed acting president Myint Swe.

The former lawyer remains one of Suu Kyi’s inner circle — the pair fought side-by-side during the 1988 democracy movement that was violently quashed by the junta and saw Win Myint, alongside many others, being taken political prisoner.

As Myanmar emerged from outright military rule, Win Myint won his seat in 2012 by-elections, the same vote that elevated Suu Kyi to parliament after a combined 15 years of house arrest.

She is still widely regarded as a heroine within Myanmar even though her reputation lies shattered globally for failing to speak up on behalf of the country’s Rohingya Muslim community.

An army crackdown has driven almost 700,000 of the persecuted minority out of the country since last August.

Her supporters say she has her hands tied by the military, which retains control over three key ministries — home affairs, borders and defence — and is guaranteed a quarter of the parliamentary seats.

Supreme Court advocate Khin Maung Zaw worked with Win Myint in recent years and said: “He is an honest person, he is quite hard-working, but sometimes he is stern.”

As speaker he was known for his passion for protocol, famously dressing down members of parliament for failing to don the correct clothing.

His tenure was marked by “exerting strict control over the MPs”, said Khin Zaw Win, director of Yangon think tank The Tampadipa Institute.

Activists have been frustrated with his reluctance to abolish a controversial online defamation law that has seen dozens of people face charges for Facebook posts critical of the government or military.

Observers say his appointment is unlikely to change politics much although he could assume some duties from Suu Kyi, who has been notoriously unwilling to delegate.

“We cannot expect a very high political impact on Myanmar democratisation,” said independent analyst Yan Myo Thein.

Political analyst Yan Kyaw said that while Win Myint’s profile may rise, “he won’t do anything against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi”.//AFP