News of the day: The University of Tokyo website becomes inaccessible to Chinese students due to censorship. Dismal forecasts for Myanmar’s economy, almost in its fourth year of war. Former head of secret services prosecuted in Pakistan for supporting Imran Khan. In Tajikistan 48 cases of human trafficking in 2024.
SOUTH KOREA
The police made a raided and searched Yoon Suk-yeol’s office (who was not present) to conduct new investigations into the proclamation of martial law on December 3, while former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Yoon’s confidant and now detained, tried to commit suicideaccording to local authorities. Yoon has been banned from leaving the country, but has not been detained or questioned. For the first time, North Korea commented the imposition of martial law, calling it an attempt to recreate a “fascist dictatorship.”
JAPAN – CHINA
A hacker apparently inserted the words “six four Tiananmen” into the source code of the University of Tokyo website to make the page censored in China. Japanese authorities are investigating the incident, but it is assumed that the purpose was to prevent new Chinese students from enrolling in Japan. The characters, now removed, were present on the English login page and in the admissions information section.
MYANMAR
According to Central Bank forecasts, the economy of Myanmar, where a civil war has been raging for almost four years, will continue to contract in 2025mainly due to the emigration of many young people, who have left the country after the imposition of compulsory military service by the army. GDP will thus be 11% lower than in 2019, while inflation will remain around 26%.
PHILIPPINES
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte was not interrogated today about assassination threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. because he did not appear, but sent a letter denying the accusations.
PAKISTAN
The Pakistani army has Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid accused of “being involved in political activities”considering him a collaborator of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the destabilization of the nation. Hamid, appointed in 2019 as head of the famous Pakistani intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) by Imran Khan himself, was arrested in August last year and is being investigated under the Pakistan Army Act. It is the first time that a former intelligence chief will be tried by court-martial.
SYRIA
As Syrian refugees try to return to their country, the United States has urged the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Committee for the Liberation of the Levant) group to form an inclusive interim government (which according to the interim head of government, Mohammed al-Nashir, will remain in office until at least March 2025) and has not clarified whether it will remove the organization from the list of terrorist groups. Israel claimed to have struck most of Syria’s strategic weapons stockpiles in the past 48 hours.
TAJIKISTAN
The Administration for Combating Organized Crime of Tajikistan reported that in the first nine months of 2024 there were 48 cases of human trafficking, which represents an increase compared to previous years, 27 of them of labor exploitation and 21 of sexual activities, most related to migratory movements and scam offers for them.
RUSSIA
A large group of Russian artists and musicians have created a foundation in the name of Pavel Kušnir, the young Russian pianist who died in July 2024 in the Siberian lager of Birobidžan after being arrested for spreading anti-war videos through You Tube. The goal of the fund is to support young Ukrainian and Russian musicians who have “escaped the dictatorial regimes” of Russia and Belarus, organizing concerts, including the first in Israel on December 25.
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