Other news of the day: North Korea-linked hackers stole $720 million worth of cryptocurrency in Japan. The Cambodian Election Commission excluded the only opposition party. Foxconn invests half a billion dollars in Telangana. After years of legal battles, several Acehnese villagers reach an agreement with the oil giant ExxonMobil. Putin ordered to transfer the Rublev Trinity to the Russian Orthodox Church.
IRAN – SAUDI ARABIA
According to the latest Amnesty International report, around 90% of the death sentences in the world they are executed in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The document, however, does not take into account China, where thousands of people are secretly executed each year. Last year there were 883 people, the highest number in the last five years.
NORTH KOREA-JAPAN
Hackers linked to North Korea stole more than 720 million euros in cryptocurrencies Japan since 2017. According to the Elliptic study cited by Nikkei, the amount is equivalent to 30% of total losses worldwide. G7 finance ministers and central bank governors call for measures to combat illicit activities, including theft of crypto assets.
CAMBODIA
The Electoral Commission excluded from the July elections the candlelight party, the only opposition party so far. The justification for the measure was the lack of presentation of documents in the registration process. To date, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) is preparing to compete in the polls without any rival in a position to threaten the power that Prime Minister Hun Sen has controlled for decades.
INDIA
Foxconn, an Apple supplier, wants invest 500 million dollars to build production plants in the southern Indian state of Telangana, creating 25,000 new jobs in the first phase alone. Apple aims to reduce reliance on China, where restrictions imposed during the Covid pandemic have blocked the production chain for new iPhones and other devices.
INDONESIA
Eleven inhabitants of a village in the Indonesian province of Aceh signed a confidential financial agreement with the oil giant ExxonMobil to end a 20-year legal battle over human rights violations. They had reported torture, sexual assault and beatings by Indonesian soldiers hired by the oil giant around the Arun camp.
HONG KONG – CHINA
A court in Suzhou, southeast China, yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage John Shing-Wan Leung, 78-year-old US citizen with permanent residence in Hong Kong. He was arrested two years ago by the Beijing counterintelligence agency. The judges also deprived him “for life” of his political rights. It is not clear where Leung was at the time he was arrested.
RUSSIA
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the most famous Russian icon, Rublev’s “Trinity”, to be transferred from the Tretyakov Gallery and handed over to the Orthodox Church, which will display it in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, for which it was painted at the beginning of the 15th century. All critics and conservatives had spoken out against the move.
ARMENIA – Türkiye
Concern in Armenia about the possible outcome of the elections in Türkiye. Outgoing President Erdogan’s adversary, Kılıçdaroğlu, is of Azeri origin and could favor the enemies of the Armenians, creating an alliance between Ankara and Baku to face that of Yerevan and Moscow. The Karabakh question would not only be a geopolitical factor, but a national question.
