Page 2 - Patrick Winn News Today

North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries on Earth. To punish the authoritarian state for developing nuclear weapons, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union severely limit what North Korea can trade. But North Korea is making and selling wigs, made from human hair, that sanctions have overlooked. As The World’s Patrick Winn reports,

State of the Union: Few Westerners ever get a glimpse inside Wa State, once the world’s biggest opium producer and now a major source of meth.

Hong Kong police are investigating a crime in which scammers, targeting an unnamed multinational corporation, used deepfake technology to imitate a chief financial officer and other staffers. Scraping data from publicly available video, the scam operation faked their voices and faces in a life-like way. Then, over a video chat, they instructed an employee to transfer $25

In the suburbs of Taipei, Taiwan's capital, there’s a Taoist shrine to the Rabbit God. He’s a deity specializing in affairs of the heart, specifically aiding those who identify as male seeking romance with men. The shrine also attracts visitors from all over Asia, where in many countries same-sex couplings are taboo or illegal. The World’s Patrick Winn meets a young Taiwanese

A new book looks at how the narco-state has flourished | Culture

Several significant new books are coming out this month. Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, and some of the books on this list will help you fall in love

Ever since the military threw out Myanmar's democratically elected government in 2021, armed resistance groups have been battling to oust them. In the past few months, small armies of ethnic groups have taken over towns along the Indian and Chinese borders. China has been backing the junta but as Myanmar's military losses mount, Beijing has started to support the other

With its own army funded by drug trade profits, Wa State is a law unto itself, as Patrick Winn reports in his new book, Narcotopia

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party was re-elected to an unprecedented third term on Saturday. That is not sitting well with China, which has called President-elect William Lai, a "destroyer of peace." That's because Lai is seen as someone promoting independence for Taiwan, something the US has said it will defend. The World's Patrick Winn reports on why so much more

Here’s a book that offers recreational drug users the rare treat of feeling a little virtuous. It’s the story of the Wa highlanders, who have lived in the border mountains between Myanmar and China for centuries. Unlike the Tibetans or the Uyghurs, they have not been bullied by a bigger nation into ceding their autonomy, as they are able to support a well-equipped army on the profits of drug smuggling.