Chatter: North Korea sends envoy to China

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NEED TO KNOW

What's Kim Jong Un's boy doing in Beijing? Good question.

North Korean state media announced the departure on Wednesday of one Vice Marshal Choe Ryong Hae for China. Not only is this the first special envoy that Kim Jong Un has sent anywhere, but the visit also marks the first of its kind since North Korea began this latest round of militaristic bluster. In other words, long overdue.

Choe Ryong Hae is also a top military advisor to Kim Jong Un, and probably the most high-profile envoy the leader of the rogue state could have chosen for such a visit.

So, what are they going to talk about? Oh, y'know, probably North Korea's recent missile launches and the hijacking of a Chinese boat by North Korean sailors. China has historically been the only country to have any sway in telling North Korea what to do, though that doesn't seem to be the case so much right now.

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STRANGE BUT TRUE

Russia is not happy about its Eurovision score and is taking it to the top. The Russian and Azeri foreign ministers held a joint press conference to voice their displeasure over a missing 10 points that Azerbaijan awarded the Russian singer but that mysteriously were not tallied in the final scores. Russian balladeer Dina Garipova finished 5th, 17 points behind 4th place Sweden, so the points would not have made any difference. But still. Don't mess with the Soviet bloc and Eurovision.

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