Hong Kong chief executive may ban foreign lawyers

Other news of the day: 2022 is a record year for North Korean missile tests. India also adopts anti-Covid restrictions for those arriving from China. In economic crisis, Laos changes its prime minister. The UN Assembly requests the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The Lithuanian Orthodox Church condemns the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Armenia no longer wants Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh.

HONG KONG-CHINA

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (the Chinese Parliament) has decided that the chief executive of the city may prohibit the use of foreign lawyers in trials for crimes against national security. The measure further restricts the autonomy of the city and was requested by the Hong Kong government itself because a court allowed pro-democratic tycoon Jimmy Lai to hire a British lawyer to defend him.

NORTH KOREA

Kim Jong-un’s regime closes 2022 with the launch of three ballistic missiles short-range in the Sea of ​​Japan. It has been a record year for missile tests for Pyongyang, subject to international sanctions for its military program, especially in the nuclear field.

INDIA

India is one of several countries that have adopted restrictions for the entry of travelers from China, affected by a new wave of Covid-19 after the recent withdrawal of the “Covid zero” policy. Like the other countries, Delhi justifies the decision because Beijing has not provided information on deaths and infections, which has also been denounced by the WHO.

LAOS

The Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh He officially submitted his resignation yesterday for health reasons. Actually the country is going through a serious economic crisis. Heavily indebted to China and scarred by the pandemic, Laos has inflation of 40% and a 21% active population without a job. The new Prime Minister is Sonexay Siphandone.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

The General Assembly of the United Nations has requested an opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories (East Jerusalem and the West Bank). The resolution was approved with 87 votes in favor and 24 against. The United States voted against.

LITHUANIA-RUSSIA

The Lithuanian Orthodox Church, an emanation of the Moscow Patriarchate, met in an assembly of bishops, clergy and laity under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Innokentij of Vilnius and officially expressed its opposition to the Russian war in Ukraine. He also called for the process of obtaining administrative autonomy from Moscow to be speeded up.

ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN

Pašinyan proposed replacing the Russian peacekeeping forces with an international contingent, since Russia “for objective and subjective reasons” is not in a position to guarantee stability in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region disputed with Baku. The Armenian prime minister turned to the UN Security Council to involve a greater number of countries.