Houthi rebels trampling Yemeni women’s rights

Other news of the day: the Covid-19 crisis worsens in China. They again accuse North Korea of ​​selling arms to Russia. Thailand: Prime Minister Prayut is running for office again. The chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province was ousted. Iran calls for a negotiated solution to the crisis between Azerbaijanis and Armenians over Karabakh.

In line with what is happening in Iran and Afghanistan, the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels are tightening the restrictions on women in the Yemeni territories under their control, especially with regard to travel (they must be accompanied by a male relative).

CHINA

Full morgues and hospitals overflowing with patients. The health crisis in the country is worsening day by day after the recent suspension of the draconian zero Covid policy. Critics note that in the three years since the outbreak of the pandemic, the regime has not been able to implement an effective plan to exit the system of controls, as has happened in other countries.

NORTH KOREA-RUSSIA

Pyongyang denies have sold ammunition to Moscow for use in the Ukraine conflict, as the Tokyo Shimbun claims. However, the Kim Jong-un regime is silent on US accusations that mercenaries from the Russian company Wagner, operating on the Ukrainian front, received weapons from North Korea.

THAILAND

The first Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha today announced his candidacy for the general elections to be held in May 2023. After coming to power in a military coup in 2014, the former general consolidated his position in the controversial 2019 elections. The announcement has been made at a time when he is falling in popularity.

PAKISTAN

The Governor of Punjab (which reports to the central government) today sacked the local provincial chief minister, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, an ally of the country’s former prime minister, Imran Khan. Elahi had refused to face a vote of confidence in the provincial Parliament.

RUSSIA

The agency of Russian journalists abroad Agenstvo analyzed the December 16 video of Putin “at the front” and came to the conclusion that it was actually filmed at the Rostov-on-Don military command. According to journalists, Zelenskyj’s recent visit to Bakhmut’s “front line” demonstrates the different political stature of the two leaders.

IRAN-CAUCASUS

Tehran has also reacted to the blockade of the Lachinsk corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh. In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry expressed its “desire that the issue be resolved by peaceful means, with dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to the November 2020 agreements.”