Kim regime convenes extraordinary meeting

Other news of the day: China increases the number of coal-fired power plants. In the course of this week the new Vietnamese president is appointed. More than 20 Pakistani migrants have drowned off the coast of Italy. Port controlled by pro-Iranian rebels reopens in Yemen. The Russian stock market and the ruble fell sharply.

NORTH KOREA

The North Korean regime has convened an extraordinary meeting to address the serious food crisis that the country suffers. Leader Kim Jong-un will chair the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, which has been in power since the end of World War II.

CHINA

Despite its commitments in the fight against climate change, the Chinese government last year approved the construction of the largest number of coal power plants since 2015. A European study reveals that the electrical capacity of the new plants is six times greater than that of the rest of the world as a whole.

VIETNAM

The Vietnamese Parliament will meet this week to appoint the new president from the country. This function is mainly ceremonial and the General Secretary of the Communist Party is the one who truly holds power. The favorite for the appointment is Vo Van Thuong, 52, the youngest member of the Politburo.

PAKISTAN-ITALY

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif revealed that there is more than 20 Pakistani immigrants among the victims of a barge that sank off the coast of southern Italy. The small boat had left Turkey and also had Iranian and Afghan nationals on board.

YEMEN

For the first time in seven years, a container ship docked at the port of Hodeidah, controlled by pro-Iranian Houthi rebels. The arrival of the commercial ship is part of an agreement between the Shiite militias and the government recognized by the international community and supported by an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

RUSSIA

The Russian currency market has suffered a sharp decline since the beginning of the year due to the European embargo on oil and gas, which is causing losses of up to 500 million rubles a day. The “strong ruble”, which had held up throughout the war year, has also fallen. The change against the dollar reached 75.6 rubles today and the euro at 80.74, the highest levels since April of last year.

GEORGIA-UKRAINE

On the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Georgian President Zurabišvili declared that “the Tbilisi government has gone into a dead end, isolating itself from democratic society and trying to justify an incomprehensible and highly unbalanced neutralism. Fortunately, the Georgian people stand in solidarity with their Ukrainian brothers.”