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/ 28 April 2008

North Korea fetes torch with rally and songs

North Koreans waved flags, plastic flowers and danced in the streets of Pyongyang to welcome the Olympic torch on Monday after the destitute state had promised its main benefactor China an ”astonishing” show. The global torch relay ahead of the Beijing Games in August has prompted protests against China’s rights record in Tibet.

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/ 4 March 2008

Who is the shortest world leader?

Until Monday there was little argument about the holder of the coveted title of shortest leader in the world: at 162cm, or a shade over five feet three inches, Kim Jong-il, supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army and Great Leader of the People’s Democratic Republic of North Korea, stood head and shoulders below the rest of the field.

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/ 26 February 2008

Musical diplomacy as NY Phil plays Pyongyang

Cold War foes the United States and North Korea enjoyed a rare moment of harmony on Tuesday when the New York Philharmonic played an unprecedented concert in the hermit state. An audience of North Korea’s communist elite gave America’s oldest orchestra a standing ovation after a rousing set that took in Dvorak, Gershwin and a Korean folk song

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/ 25 February 2008

NY Phil tries Dvorak diplomacy with North Korea

The New York Philharmonic arrived in a snowy Pyongyang on Monday to play the symphony From the New World in an overture to thaw still frozen ties from the Cold War era between the United States and North Korea. If well-received, the concert would make a ”tiny contribution” toward bringing the United States and North Korea closer together, said music director, Lorin Maazel