News Headlines - 04 December 2013

▽Kim Jong-un's uncle 'purged' by North Korea military - Telegraph

The uncle and mentor to Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has apparently been purged by a resurgent military faction in Pyongyang. Jang Song-thaek has not been seen in public since late November, when two of his closest aides were executed in public after being found guilty of corruption and activities that ran counter to the policies of the Workers' Party of Korea, according to a report by South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS).

▽Taiwan Seeks Peace Talks Over China Air Defense Zone

Taiwan appealed for peace talks on Tuesday after China established an air defense zone over the East China Sea, enraging Japan. Analysts think the call for peace will help Taiwan stay on the good side of both China and Japan as they square off against each other.

▽Japan caught in dilemma over China air defence zone - FT.com

Any Asian country trying to preserve its hold on remote territory coveted by China, the region’s increasingly powerful and assertive giant, faces a daunting challenge. For Japan, the task of retaining control of the disputed Senkaku Islands is especially fraught – as the delicately orchestrated visit to Tokyo by US vice-president Joe Biden highlighted this week.

▽Major Hezbollah Figure Is Assassinated Near Beirut - NYTimes.com

Hassane Laqees was a major player in the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah from its inception three decades ago to its current intervention in Syria’s civil war. Over the years, he survived several assassination attempts.

▽BBC News - Autumn Statement: Plan to raise state pension age sooner

The government is planning to bring forward the date when people need to be 68 to draw the state pension, Chancellor George Osborne will announce in his Autumn Statement later. The change, currently set for 2046, may now happen in the mid-2030s, affecting people now in their forties and below.