S. Korea withdraws K-pop guidelines
SEOUL • Government guidelines aimed at promoting diversity in the K-pop world have been withdrawn amid criticism of state censorship.
The guidelines issued by South Korea's ministry of gender equality last week complained that stars looked too alike, noting that most idols were thin and wore similar make-up and skimpy outfits. It said on Tuesday it would retract the recommendation as it had "caused unnecessary confusion".
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ex-military chief jailed for life in China
BEIJING • A former chief of staff of China's military has been sentenced to life in prison after being swept up in President Xi Jinping's anti-graft crackdown.
Appointed to the People's Liberation Army's top post in 2012, Fang Fenghui was convicted in a military court of accepting and offering bribes, and having an unclear source of a huge amount of assets, official news agency Xinhua said. The court also stripped Fang of political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Boy's suicide: Bullies to pay damages
OTSU (Japan) • Two former classmates of a 13-year-old boy who committed suicide have been ordered to pay damages of 37 million yen (S$453,300) after a court ruling that their bullying led to his death, Japan Today reported.
"The main cause of the boy's suicide were the acts against him by the former classmates," Judge Shigeyasu Nishioka said at a district court in Shiga prefecture on Tuesday.