SEOUL -- A South Korean judge who presided over the appeal trial of former first lady Kim Keon-hee's Deutsch Motors stock manipulation and other charges was found dead early Wednesday, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Shin Jong-oh, a judge at the Seoul High Court, was found in a flower bed near the court building in Seoul at around 1 a.m. local time after police received a report around midnight, according to the report. (S. Korea-Judge-Death)
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ISLAMABAD -- Developments taking place behind closed doors regarding ongoing peace efforts in the Middle East and talks between the United States and Iran are "far more promising" than publicly known, an official source told Xinhua on Wednesday.
According to the source, diplomatic engagements involving regional and international stakeholders have continued quietly despite visible tensions on the surface. (Pakistan-Middle East-Diplomacy)
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JAKARTA -- At least 16 people were killed after an intercity bus collided head-on with a tanker truck on a major highway on Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday, local officials said.
The crash occurred at around 12:39 p.m. local time on the Trans-Sumatra Highway in Karang Jaya district, South Sumatra province. It involved a long-distance bus and a tanker truck traveling in the opposite direction, local media outlet Jakarta Globe reported. (Indonesia-Accident-Death)
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HANOI -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung has ordered a nationwide campaign against intellectual property (IP) violations from May 7 to 30, mandating at least a 20-percent year-on-year increase in the number of handled cases, the Vietnam News Agency reported Wednesday.
Under a recently issued official dispatch, authorities are ordered to intensify coordinated enforcement, targeting infringements involving geographical indications, copyright, counterfeit goods and trademarks, according to the report. (Vietnam-IP-Protection) ■
