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A monitoring website claimed on Wednesday that despite the announcement of the commitment to disarmament of Korea Peninsula in the Singapore Summit, North Korea is increasingly improving its nuclear research center.

Kim Zhang, a nuclear weapons-rich North Korean leader, promised to work towards this goal in a historic dialogue with US President Donald Trump earlier this month in Singapore, but the Singapore meeting gave a clear definition of disarmament or North Korea by failing to give a clear timetable to destroy nuclear weapons reserves.

According to the '38 North' website, Trump claimed that the process would start early and they had said last week that there will be complete disarmament which has started, but according to the website, recent satellite photos showed that North Korea's main Yongbayon Not only are the operations going on at the atomic site, but infrastructure work is also being done there.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong met for the historic summit in Singapore. The objective of this meeting was to make bilateral relations normal and to complete nuclear disarmament in the Korean Peninsula. Between Trump and Kim, this meeting took place in a Singapore hotel's popular tourist destination Santosa. The two leaders started the summit with warm hands in front of the media crew at the hotel.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong met here warmly and the first round of talks was held between them. At the same time, the general summit between the two leaders began with the aim of normalization of bilateral relations and complete nuclear disarmament in the Korean Peninsula.

According to the North Korean media, Kim actually reached the meeting place seven minutes before the trump. He did this to express respect because it is a culture where young people reach them before expressing their respect for the elderly. The red tie that Trump wore, could also have some respect for Kim because North Korean likes this color.

Asked how the conversation was, Trump said, "Very, very good. Fantastic relationships.'' Kim was asked at least three times whether he would leave nuclear weapons, in response to that he just smiled. Trump and Kim both commented briefly.

Trump said that he believes that he and Kim will overcome the big problem, the big dilemma and we will take care of it by working together. Kim said, "There will be further challenges, but we will work with Trump. We will overcome all speculation and suspicions about this summit and I believe that it is good for peace."

Donald Trump has become the first US president to meet and shake hands with a North Korean leader. After months of speculation and threats, the two men met on Singapore's Sentosa island.

They held a 40 minute meeting, followed by a signing of a joint statement in which they agreed to the de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

But it was a document vague in detail and lacking a time frame.

So, what will the North Korean leader get in return for agreeing to 'de-nuclearise'?

The southern Indian state of Kerala has been put on 'all-time alert' after at least 17 of the people infected with Nipah virus died in the past weeks.

Kerala's Health Minister KK Shailaja told on Monday that the state is on an 'all-time alert' to prevent the infectious disease - which causes acute respiratory problems or fatal brain swelling among humans - from spreading further.

"All efforts are being made by authorities to confirm that more lives are not lost due to Nipah," she said.

The viral outbreak has resulted in the quarantine of 2,379 people in their homes in the southern state, health and government officials have said.

More than 2,000 people are under medical observation in Kerala's Malabar region, uncertain whether they have been infected with the disease.

Individuals who had any contact with infected persons have been included in the list.

The state's director of health services, RL Saritha, said on Monday that there had been no new cases reported since June 1.

"The preventive measures have been implemented with greater efficiency. There is no need to panic," Saritha told.

The Nipah virus is believed to be transmitted from animals to humans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), fruit bats are the natural hosts of the disease.

India's National Centre for Disease Control and experts from the National Institute of Virology said they are also monitoring the situation.

Raised alarms

The outbreak of the disease and risk of its spread have raised alarms among the people in four most-affected districts of Malabar region of the state.

Dr Ajaz Ali, a surgeon at Koyilandy Taluk hospital in Kozhikode district, said that since the news of the disease broke out, many patients have refrained from coming to the hospital.

"There were more than 1,200 people coming here every day, and now it has reduced to below 200. All are afraid of crowds due to the Nipah risk.

Isolation wards for patients infected with Nipah have been set up at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

The disease has also forced state authorities to close schools and colleges and postpone exams in Malabar.

District authorities have also asked people to keep away from crowded areas as a precautionary measure. District courts in some areas have also temporarily suspended operations.

Businesses affected

The disease outbreak has affected the livelihood of people as businesses have shut down. Sales in restaurants and shops selling produce, meat and fish have fallen in the past few weeks.

"Bus stands are empty. People are avoiding travel. They are remaining at home and using protective masks while travelling," said Rajeev, a bus conductor from Kozhikode district.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar have banned imports of fresh and frozen vegetables and fruits from Kerala. The ban will continue until the outbreak is controlled.

Bahrain and Qatar have also urged their nationals and residents to avoid travelling to Kerala until the epidemic is under control.

An estimated 1.6 million migrants from Kerala form the majority of the Indian community in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.

Tracing the source

Health authorities in India said they have no evidence to suggest that the Nipah virus in Kerala was transmitted by fruit bats as suspected initially.

Samples collected from the droppings, serum and blood of bats tested negative for the Nipah virus, officials the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases said.

The last Nipah outbreaks - reported in 2001 and 2007 in India's West Bengal - claimed 70 lives. Nipah has killed more than 260 people in Bangladesh, Malaysia, and India and Singapore since 1998.

The deadly virus got its name from the Kampung Sungai Nipah village in Malaysia where it was first reported.

Despite the absence of a vaccine to prevent Nipah from spreading, an antiviral drug used against hepatitis C infection seems to contain shivering and vomiting in patients, the WHO said.

The two confirmed cases in Kerala, who have been under treatment now, have also been responding well to the anti-hepatitis drug, said the director of health services.

Meanwhile, India's national disease control agency said no similar cases of Nipah had been detected in other parts of the country.

Fake voter list is preparing in Madhya Pradesh of India. The Congress leaders had complained to the Election Commission on this morning, after which the Election Commission has ordered to investigate the matter by making the team.

Congress leader Kamal Nath had complained of 4 lakhs fake voters to the Election Commission, but after no satisfactory action, it has now been complained in Delhi.

Digvijay Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Satyavrat Chaturvedi reached office of the Election Commission by complaining about the fake voter list with Kamal Nath.

These leaders also handed the list to the Election Commission, which has many voters on one name. Apart from this, voting with many photos on a voter's ID has remained. Not only this, the dead people are still in the Voter List.

Attacking Election Commission on the disturbances of EVM and VVPAT machines during the by-elections, Shiv Sena today said that the ruling Party has made Election Commission, elections and democracy as their mistress. Making a sharp attack against the coalition partner BJP, Shiv Sena, while calling the ruling party a dictatorship, said that they have spoiled EVMs for their benefit.

Shiv Sena has warned through an editorial in his mouthpiece 'Samna' that people has lost faith from which electoral process, that process is fatal for democracy. The article says, "Hindustan is the world's largest democratic country, so there is no meaning for banging the dunk. EVM has blown away our democracy. The current dictatorship, the ruling party with the tendency of mobocracy has kept democracy as its own mistress."

He alleged, "BJP has corrupted the EVM and made a used machinery for itself. That's why elections and the Election Commission have become the mistress of the wreckage of the Yellow House."

Referring to the complaints of EVMs and VVPAT machines in the Bhandara-Gondia and Palghar Lok Sabha bye-elections in Maharashtra, citing complaints of technical failure, Shiv Sena said, but what to say this? Our election machinery is breathing on the EVM's arbitrariness or on the kindness.

In the democracy, one vote is worth. But thousands of voters are bored after returning from the polling booth after standing in line. The Samna has written, "The present election commission and its machinery have become the spinach of the ruling class. Therefore, they are not ready to take any complaint against the distribution of liquor, distribution of money, dictatorship of the rulers, and threatening speeches, "he said.

The party also quipped on the foreign trips of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Election Commission over the issue of disturbances in EVM due to the heat.

He wrote, "Hindustan's weather and temperature varies, but the rise in temperature does not example of the prime minister's airplane closure. The rapidly running social media of BJP machinery does not shut down the computer due to the temperature, how does the EVM stop?

The editorial states, "For many years EVMs were used by Bhel Company or Central Election Commission. This time, these machines were floated by a private company in Surat for the election. "While defying the alleged setting in the EVM as BJP's cause, Samna has written," There is anger in the public against the Bharatiya Janata Party and its functioning. Despite this they are winning. This is the setting of EVMs."

Shiv Sena says, "At present, our Election Commission has got slackened eating sev - gathiya and Dhokla. He does not see scam. The complaints have not been heard. "Confronting Prime Minister Modi, the Samna has written," Russia's Putin and China's Xi Jinping have done the system of living in power in a democratic way. The same preparation has started in India, but it is not possible."

It's becoming ever more risky to be a journalist in today's world.

Two suicide attacks in Afghanistan killed at least 9 journalists on Monday.

Another journalist was killed later that day.

The UN has documented the killing of 14 journalists in Afghanistan since last year alone.

But the issue is not unique to that country, reporters from North Korea, to Syria,Turkey and Eritrea face threats every day.

According to the World Press Freedom Index, North Korea ranks at the bottom, while Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands round up the top three.

But Europe has seen the steepest decline in the regional rankings.

Malta is now ranked 65th - down by 18 points and Slovakia 27th - down by 10.

In both countries, high-profile journalists were recently murdered.

The U.S. has slipped two places to 45th - the report partly blames what it calls violent rhetoric from President Trump.  

Myanmar, which has forced out hundreds of thousands of Rohingya - has also slipped.

It's now ranked 137th, with the government intensifying arrests and prosecutions of journalists.

Middle East and North Africa has been rated the worst region for journalists.

Rights groups have reported an unparalleled crackdown on Egypt's media in recent years.

Among those in jail is Al Jazeera's journalist Mahmoud Hussein, who's been in prison for nearly 500 days without charge.

So, is press freedom under attack?

Lebanon has not held a parliamentary election since June 2009. Now thousands of Lebanese aged 21 and over are considering candidates in a May 6 ballot.

Lebanon's current parliament has postponed elections and renewed its term on three occasions. Politicians said the extensions were due to security concerns amid the war in neighbouring Syria, a crippling domestic debt crisis, and disputes over electoral reform - an issue largely resolved with a new electoral law ratified in June 2017.

New political organisations and independent candidates alike are gearing up for the election under a proportional system. Civil society groups, independents and the new Sabaa party have formed an electoral alliance under the Kollona Watani (National Coalition) banner. The coalition argues that its strength is in its numbers and its diversity - 66 candidates drawn from all religious sects - and that it represents a move away from the dynastic character of  traditional parties.

We will ask some of these new voices about advancing alternative political ideas, as well as their hopes for dramatically changing Lebanon's future.

Since 1978, 1 million hectares of mangroves have been cut down in Myanmar. In the Ayerwaddy Delta in the south, mangrove forests have been significantly depleted - often cut down to make way for shrimp and rice farming, as well as charcoal production and collecting palm oil. Worldwide, 35 percent of the world's mangroves are now lost.  

Only 16 percent of the original cover is left in the vulnerable Delta Region where the mangroves are being destroyed at rates three to five times higher than global deforestation.

"At the moment, mangrove conditions are severely degraded," says Win Meung, a seasoned ecologist who heads a mangrove regeneration project in Myanmar.

"In the coastal areas, 60 percent of the villagers don't have a permanent job and try to find their money in the mangrove areas. They cut the trees and within one hour they can get the money [they need] for their livelihood."

Mangroves play a vital role in the fight against climate change and extreme weather events such as cyclones. They help mitigate carbon emissions, as well as protect vulnerable coastal communities from extreme weather, while strengthening seafood stocks up to 50 percent.

While Meung and many locals have tried taking matters into their own hands, planting over 400,000 seedlings by hand to try and repopulate the mangrove population, the activity has taken 3 years and there is a lot more yet to be done before another cyclone hits.

Armed with a drone and the capacity to fire 5000 seeds an hour, can this new technology be the way forward for Myanmar's mangrove crisis?

earthrise heads to Myanmar to see how both the drones and local action are coming together to help reforest successfully, restoring a vital natural habitat.

Rising global temperatures have been linked to changing weather patterns. Drought, storms, wildfires – extreme weather have recently become the norm and conditions will only worsen unless things change.

earthrise travels to southern Kenya and to Myanmar to see how the locals in these areas are coping with extreme weather.

Navigating Drought

In drought-stricken Kenya life for all residents, and particularly the herding community, has been nothing less than devastating. Erratic weather patterns and the increasing effects of climate change have led to a lack of vegetation and water resources jeopardizing survival of livestock and the pastoralist way of life.

As the onslaught of unpredictable weather continues, some Maasai herders have turned to a hi-tech solution to help them adapt to the current environment. earthrise travels to Kenya to see how pastoralists in southern Kenya are using satellite mapping technology to make informed migration decisions.

 Cyclone Shield

In the Ayerwaddy Delta in the south of Myanmar, mangrove forests have been significantly depleted - often cut down so that people can use the area to plant rice, farm for prawns and collect palm oil. Only 16 per cent of the original cover is left in the vulnerable Delta Region where the mangroves are being destroyed at rates three to five times higher than global deforestation.
Mangroves play a vital role in the fight against climate change and extreme weather events such as cyclones. They help mitigate carbon emissions, as well as protect vulnerable coastal communities from extreme weather, while strengthening seafood stocks up to 50 per cent.

earthrise heads to Myanmar to see how drones and local action are coming together to help reforest are successfully restoring a vital natural habitat.

Mike Pompeo has wrapped up his three country tour of the Middle East in Jordan.

America's top diplomat highlighted the importance of the Jordanian role in helping solve conflicts in neighbouring countries.

In particular, he urged Palestinian leaders to re-engage in talks with Israel.

And Pompeo urged a united front against what the White House says is the regional threat posed by Iran - the message he emphasised earlier in both Saudi Arabia and Israel.

But what kind of threat is Iran to the US and the region?

And how will it be confronted?