Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, acquitted of tax evasion charges

Other news of the day: Pakistani Prime Minister proposes peace talks with India. Pacific island countries against the discharge of polluted water from Fukushima. In China, millions of people travel for the Lunar New Year. The first space launch base in the Middle East will be built in Oman. Russian citizens accuse Putin of creating a Nazi state.

PHILIPPINES

A court acquitted the Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Resa of tax evasion charges. The acquittal (of four counts) also refers to his newspaper Rappler. There are three other criminal cases open against the journalist, one of them for defamation, which could mean seven years in prison.

PAKISTAN-INDIA

Shehbaz Sharif proposes to the Indian government start conversations to solve problems like the sovereignty of Kashmir. The Pakistani prime minister said that he had asked the United Arab Emirates to mediate between the two parties.

OCEANIA-JAPAN

The island countries of the South Pacific called on Tokyo to delay the release of sewage into the sea contaminated debris from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, damaged by the 2011 tsunami. Japanese authorities said the operation could start between spring and summer.

CHINA

Millions of Chinese are moving to reach their hometowns on the eve of the Lunar New Year, which falls on January 21. After three years of anti-Covid restrictions, the government hopes that the reopening will favor consumption and the recovery of the economy. Experts fear that mass displacements could spread the pandemic in the countryside.

OMAN

The sultanate will begin construction of the first space launch base in the Middle East. The Etlaq Space Launch Complex will be built in the port city of Duqm. The works will be completed in three years, but the first launch could take place in early 2024.

RUSSIA

A group of Russian citizens from the Ishimbaysk province in Bashkortostan sent an open letter to Putin. The letter says: “You have created a totalitarian regime, similar to Nazi Germany…you only defend the rights of law enforcement, who are always ready to kill ordinary people, but in the end, what can you do without the village?”.

TAJIKISTAN-KYRGYZSTAN

Despite the increasingly severe winter weather, a thaw window has opened between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, with a telephone conversation between the two presidents Rakhmon and Žaparov. The occasion was the thirtieth anniversary of diplomatic relations. They spoke of the “prospects for collaboration” between the two States, beginning with the delimitation of the borders.