ASIA TODAY Pyongyang ratifies mutual defense agreement with Moscow

News of the day: China tourism figures show a rebound in foreign visitors. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto flies to the US after being in China and congratulates Trump. More clashes in Manipur between the Kuki and the security forces. Selective attacks in Syria by the US against “targets aligned with Iran.”

NORTH KOREA – RUSSIA

North Korea today ratified a mutual defense pact with Russiastate media reported today, strengthening security cooperation after Pyongyang, based on another understanding, sent thousands of soldiers to support Moscow in the Ukraine war. The agreement formalizes months of military cooperation and could lead to the deployment of more North Korean troops. Countries that support Ukraine fear that Russia will grant technological support to the North Korean nuclear program in return.

CHINA

Tourism in China has only improved this year thanks to the elimination of the visa requirement: according to experts, flight cancellations, together with geopolitical tensions, had slowed the recovery of the sector after the pandemic. Official Government figures, on the other hand, now indicate some 95 million arrivals in the first nine months of 2024, that is, around 93.4% of the figures recorded in the same period of 2019. Domestic tourism continues to be more economically significant, so it is expected that opening to the outside world will improve the country’s image.

INDONESIA – UNITED STATES

The Indonesian president, Prabowo Subianto congratulated Donald Trump by phone for his electoral victory, shortly before meeting with the acting president, Joe Biden, in Washington. Prabowo flew to the United States after having been in China. In Washington he also met with several representatives of American companies, asking them to invest in Indonesia.

INDIA

Ten alleged Kuki militants They died yesterday in an armed confrontation with security forces in Jiribam district. According to the police, the militants had attacked a post of the Central Reserve Police Force. However, for the Hmar Students Association, the ten people killed were “people’s volunteers”, an expression used to describe the armed civilians who protect homes since the ethnic conflict broke out in Manipur.

SYRIA

The US military carried out a series of attacks in Syria in response to damage caused to US forces by “Iranian-aligned targets” in the country, US Central Command said. “These attacks will reduce the ability of Iranian-backed groups to plan and launch future attacks,” continued CENTCOM, which manages about 900 US troops in eastern Syria.

TURKMENISTAN

Makhym (not her real name), a 27-year-old Turkmen woman who grew up in an orphanage in the city of Mari, told Radio Azattyk about the terrible conditions of these facilities, which according to the Turkmen authorities are “safe and happy places,” while children They often go hungry and suffer psychological, physical and even sexual violence.

UZBEKISTAN

The European Economic Days were held in Tashkent, where the Secretary General of the EU International Cooperation Commission, the Estonian Henrik Kololej, reiterated that “the Trans-Caspian Corridor will give Central Asia the opportunity to integrate into the world economy”, stimulating the expansion of infrastructure and the digitalization of services.