ASIA TODAY Tokyo, thousands of euros to families to leave the capital

Other news of the day: Jakarta approved the development plan for the South China Sea gas field; Seoul launches new army division to counter Pyongyang’s atomic weapons; Dubai suspended the 30% tax on alcohol to boost tourism; ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on Taliban forces in Kabul; Russia’s former chief rabbi invited Jews to leave the country.

JAPAN

Japan will increase the financial help families to leave the capital, Tokyo, and move to the countryside; the objective is to fight against depopulation in various areas of the country. Each nucleus will receive up to 10,000 euros as of fiscal year 2023, an amount three times higher than that assigned up to now. Rural areas have been in a state of great neglect for a long time.

INDONESIA

Jakarta approved the first exploitation plan for the offshore gas field of tuna for a total value of more than three billion euros. It is located in the South China Sea, in an area between Indonesia and Vietnam and is expected to reach full capacity in 2027, with production of 115 million standard cubic feet per day (Mmscfd).

KOREA

The South Korean army has decided to create a new division whose task will be to counter the “threats” coming from Pyongyang. The focus will be on atomic weapons and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the hands of the Northern regime. The decision is a response to Kim Jong-un’s proclamations about the “exponential” growth of the nuclear arsenal.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Dubai suspended the 30% tax on alcohol and canceled the licenses required for the commercialization of alcoholic drinks. The decision confirms the emirate’s willingness to focus on tourism and foreign residents to boost the economy, overcoming competition from the Saudis and Qatar. The law goes into effect on January 8 for an experimental period of one year.

AFGHANISTAN

The Islamic State claimed the January 1 attack against Taliban forces in Kabul. In a message posted on social networks, the jihadist group claims to have killed at least 20 people and injured 30 others. The Afghan Interior Ministry speaks of an explosion that occurred outside the military airport, without referring to any deaths.

RUSSIA – ISRAEL

The former chief rabbi of Russia who now lives in Israel, Pinkhas Goldschmidt, called on Russian Jews to leave the country. He invited them out “before they are made scapegoats for all the hardships stemming from the war in Ukraine,” in a new wave of anti-Semitism akin “to the times of the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany.”

AZERBAIJAN – UKRAINE

Ukraine’s First Lady Elena Zelenskaja publicly thanked Azerbaijan for the humanitarian aid it has sent. Baku’s aid consists of a large supply of transformers and electrical generators, “precisely the equipment that our people need so much – she stressed -, in the regions most affected by the war”.